


Perfect Strangers

by TellHipHopImLiterate



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Christmas, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, Marriage, Same-Sex Marriage
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-03 16:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 47,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8720524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TellHipHopImLiterate/pseuds/TellHipHopImLiterate
Summary: Jongup has been told that his ex-boyfriend is getting married.On Christmas.Jongup wants to show him that he's over his ex-boyfriend. And the only way to do that is to hire a fake boyfriend.Nothing could go wrong.





	1. December 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [awildneko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/awildneko/gifts).



> For my NaNoWriMo challenge. I will be posting one chapter per day and give small thoughts. I'm very excited to share. Also, a Christmas present for my friend Charley, or awildneko! enjoy!

Jongup woke up to the light streaming through the thin curtains. Everything was too bright and the blankets were so warm. He didn't want to get up from the bed.

"Wake up, sleeping beauty!"  a familiar voice announced.

Jongup groaned and buried deeper into the covers. He doesn't want to get up, no matter what his roommate will try to do.

He whined when he felt the blankets being yanked from his bed. He tried to get some sort of warmth from the sheets or his bed, but he knew it was futile. He sighed and finally got up from is bed.

"Alright, I'm up!" Jongup stated.

Junhong, his roommate and someone Jongup wants to kill right now, only smiled at him and holds out a Styrofoam cup with a familiar logo, knowing that it has his favorite coffee inside. Something didn't seem right. Junhong hardly gets him coffee. Especially from somewhere from Starbucks. Junhong hates Starbucks.

"What's going on?" Jongup asked him.

"What? Nothing! Can't a friend bring another friend a cup of coffee from his favorite coffee shop?" Junhong asked.

Now it gave Jongup a reason to be suspicious. He gave Junhong a look, which didn't seem to faze him because he continued to smile at him. Okay, this was getting rather creepy.

"If you don't tell me what's going on, I will waste all the hot water," Jongup threatened.

That broke Junhong's smile.

"Alright, alright. Our mail came a little earlier than I thought and a particular piece of mail caught my attention. You remember your ex-boyfriend, Youngjae?" Junhong asked.

Seriously? Youngjae was the love of his life when he was younger. In fact, they were once considered high school sweethearts. They were nominated as best couple in the yearbook. He's still not over him after all this time and still thinks about him, unfortunately. So why was Junhong bringing up his old flame?

"You mean the love of my life who broke my heart? I do. Why?" Jongup asked, taking a sip of his coffee. So good. So sugary and sweet.

"Well, he'sgettingmarriedonChristmas," Junhong mumbled, but Jongup still heard what he said.

"Wait, are you serious? Why would he marry someone else? The break up is still fresh," Jongup stated.

"It's been six years," Junhong stated.

It's been that long? Jongup could've sworn it was shorter. He looked at his calendar and saw it was the first day of December. About six years ago. So it has been a while. He didn't realize how long it had actually been.

"Well, I'm not going. There's no way I'm going to an ex's wedding," Jongup said.

"Well..."

"You didn't. When was this?" Jongup demanded.

"About a month ago. Youngjae was so excited that he wanted his old high school friends there. Besides, you guys ended it on a good note," Junhong confessed.

Jongup groaned. It's true, they both ended the relationship on a good note, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt any less Sure, they drifted apart and the love was hardly there. It didn't help that the two were going to different schools with different majors. But Jongup still loved Youngjae with all his heart. He never even stopped loving him.

"You know, you could've asked," Jongup said.

"I did. You mumbled something in your pillow and then said yes. You even said to put you down with having a date," Junhong stated.

Jongup tried to remember that specific event. The memory was a bit hazy, but he did remember Junhong asking him about a wedding. He thought it was Himchan's wedding, not Youngjae's.

"You could've asked me again. I thought it was Himchan's wedding," Jongup stated.

"Oh please, his wedding won't be until next year. Either way, it's too late now. Youngjae is extremely excited to see you again. And with your date. He thinks you finally moved on from your relationship," Junhong told him.

Jongup groaned. Wait, why did Junhong mention something in the mail.

"What did you get in the mail that reminded you of the wedding?" Jongup asked.

Junhong produced two clean white envelopes with both of their names. Junhong's, unfortunately, has already been ripped open. His was still clean. He took his own envelope and opened his up. He read the content and saw that it was a reminder that the wedding was on Christmas.

"The wedding of Mr. Yoo Youngjae and Mr. Jung Daehyun. Sounds a bit weird," Jongup confessed.

"You're just pissed because it's not your name in fancy letters next to Youngjae's. Now get dressed. I have decided to take you out to a nice lunch because you deserve it," Junhong told him.

"You're doing this because You said yes without my permission," Jongup said.

"Yep! Now come on! If we get there early, we can start on brunch," Junhong said.

Junhong finally left Jongup's room. Jongup got up from his bed and went to find something clean to wear. It wasn't that hard. He picked a plain black shirt with faded jeans and a pair of nice shoes. He walked out of his room and saw Junhong texting someone.

"Who are you texting?" Jongup asked, grabbing his sweater to wear.

"Himchan. I'm telling him to meet me at the Swan Cafe. We need to get together to discuss battle plans for you and Youngjae. Lord knows you're still hung up on him," Junhong answered.

Jongup only rolled his eyes and ushered Junhong out of the apartment.

\-----

Jongup doesn't mind winter. He lives for winter. It's his favorite season.

He just can't stand the cold.

Everywhere it's freezing and it's full of people making gift plans for the Christmas season. It was bugging Jongup a little bit. Now, he loves Christmas. He lives for the holiday. It still brings up some rather bad memories, but he'll deal with it. For now, at least.

The two entered the Swan Cafe and took a seat by the window. The cafe was rather warm, with a few chit chattering and the sound of glass clicking together from the kitchen. He missed this noise. He couldn't remember the reason he hasn't come back to this place in so long. He shook his head and looked around to see if he could find Himchan.

"Oh, there he is," Junhong confirmed.

He saw Junhong wave a rather oblivious Himchan. He only got the older's attention when he finally looked their way. Himchan walked over to them and sat down.

"God, I haven't been in here in so long. It's mighty toasty in here," Himchan said, opening his menu up.

Jongup did the same and looked through the different options he could have. He could have a sandwich, but the soup is sounding rather appealing.

"Oh no," he heard Junhong whisper.

Jongup looked up to see what Junhong saw, and realized what it was. No. Not what. _Who_.

Youngjae entered the cafe, with a rather handsome man trailing right behind him. The man had tanned skin with black hair and wide brown eyes. Youngjae looked the same, except his skin looked tanner and his smile looked wider. Jongup never saw that kind of smile when the two were dating.

"Don't look," Jongup muttered.

"What, why?" Himchan asked.

Jongup cursed under his breath when Himchan turned around to look at what Jongup was referring to.

"Oh, Youngjae!" Himchan called.

Jongup is ready to put a snake in Himchan's bed.

Youngjae turned his head and smiled brightly at their table. The two walked over and sat down across from Jongup and Junhong.

"Himchan, it's good to see you! I haven't seen you since last week," Youngjae told him.

So Himchan was talking to Youngjae. Jongup didn't see it fair that Youngjae was talking to Himchan, an old friend from college, than Jongup, an ex-boyfriend who promised to remain friends after all of these years.

"I know. And this must be Daehyun! I only heard good things about you. Please, tell me about yourself," Himchan said, smiling eagerly.

This was the guy Youngjae was going to marry? Jongup pouted slightly to himself. He looked like a doll, with what looked to be vampire teeth and plump lips. Everything about him screamed handsomeness.

"Jongup? My, it's been so long! You look like you're doing well," Youngjae said, looking at his direction.

Jongup only smiled weakly. He didn't know what to do in this situation. It was weird and awkward and Jongup wanted to go home.

"Yeah, I've been working. Nothing much has changed, really," Jongup confessed.

"I hear you have a boyfriend, though. What's he like?" Youngjae asked.

Shit.

"Uh, well there really isn't much to say. I guess you'll meet him at the reception or something," Jongup said rather awkwardly.

"How long have you two known each other?" Daehyun asked them.

"We dated in high school. We broke up because of mutual understanding that we didn't love each other and that we were going to different colleges," Youngjae answered.

Jongup felt a little cheated on that. It wasn't really a mutual break up. Not really. He still kept drunk calling Youngjae for dates. It wasn't until he forgot Youngjae's number did he actually stop. But he wasn't going to mention that.

"I'm Junhong, by the way. One of Youngjae's friends," Junhong introduced as he smiled politely.

"Oh, I'm Daehyun," Daehyun introduced.

"So how long have you two known each other?" Himchan asked.

Youngjae's eyes lit up like it was a Christmas tree. Jongup felt sour and angry. He wasn't going to show it because that would be rude and he'd rather not do that in front of people.

"We actually met at a coffee shop, as strange as that sounds. We both ordered the same thing and accidentally grabbed the same drink. Daehyun apologized so profusely and asked me on a date. I said yes, and here we are," Youngjae answered.

"How romantic!" Himchan exclaimed.

Jongup continued to look at the menu. The soup was starting to sound pleasant.

"How did you meet your boyfriend, Jongup? This is the first I heard of one," Himchan asked him.

Jongup looked up and saw all eyes on him. Junhong looked sorry for him. He hates himself so much.

"Well... we met at a bookstore. Where I work. He continuously asked me for different books with strange titles until I realized what he was doing. I slipped a phone number into one of the books he wanted to buy and then we are still dating," Jongup answered.

What a bullshit lie. Jongup knew that Youngjae would see through it. He was never a good liar. Then again, his lying skills always seemed to amaze him.

"That sounds adorable. I can't wait to see him," Youngjae said.

"Oh, it's getting late. We need to pick up our lunch and head to the bakery," Daehyun tells him.

"Oh, that's right! Well, it was good to see you guys! I'll see you guys at the wedding, right?" Youngjae asked.

"I'm your groomsmen, so of course I'll be there," Himchan told him.

Jongup only nodded his head. Junhong said something, but Jongup ignored him. Great. Now he's gotta find a date for the wedding who will pretend to be his boyfriend.

"You don't have a boyfriend," Himchan accused.

Jongup shot his head up and stared at him.

"What? Yes I do-"

"Jongup, you're still wallowing in sadness because Youngjae broke up with you in high school. I know you," Himchan told him.

Jongup groaned. He knew that Himchan would figure it out. He thought Youngjae would, too, but it figures since Youngjae didn't really know that much about him.

"What do I do? I can't show up to the wedding without a date! I'll look completely pathetic. Especially since Youngjae believes that I moved on from him," Jongup whined, placing his head against the rather dirty table.

"Don't worry about it. Junhong and I will find you the perfect fake boyfriend," Himchan told him.

"We are?" Junhong asked.

Himchan ignored him. The three then began to place their orders for their lunch to the rather nice waitress.

Jongup doesn't like where any of this is going.


	2. December 2

If Jongup was honest with himself from time to time, he believes that the bad things wouldn't happen to him at all. Other times, he's just thankful for keeping stuff to himself. And then deal with the consequences later on.

When he woke up that day, he didn't think that Himchan would be in his kitchen, sitting down on his chair, or wearing Junhong's rather floral robes that he keeps around from time to time. (Jongup once asked him why he has satin robes. Junhong answered that it feels good against his flesh.)

"You didn't hear us last night, right?" Himchan asked, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Unfortunately. I'm surprised he didn't buy you a ball gag to muffle out your cries. I'm even more surprised you decided to stick around," Jongup answered.

Their relationship has been going on for years. Himchan's fiancée, Sunhwa, knows of course and has allowed it. It's what happens when arranged marriages happened, he guessed. Jongup doesn't understand why Himchan won't tell his parents the truth about Junhong, call off the wedding, and let those two be disgusting and happy together.

It wasn't until Junhong told him that they have a plan did he realize that his friend is either an evil genius or a complete moron.

"Anyway, I may have found you a fake boyfriend. He's an old friend of mine from when we were kids," Himchan announced.

"Thanks, but no. I know how weird your friends are and I rather not meet them," Jongup answered.

"But he does this for a living! Albeit, not for this long, but he gets paid for this," Himchan explained.

"No," Jongup answered quickly.

"Can you at least meet him? If you don't like him, you don' have to hire him. Then you can watch Youngjae being spoon-fed by Daehyun at their wedding reception while you don't have a date. And then you'll have to explain why your boyfriend didn't show up-"

"Alright, I'll meet him! God. No wonder Junhong smothers your face into a pillow," Jongup interrupted.

Before Himchan could defend himself, Junhong walks into the kitchen, bleary eyed and love bites along his chest.

"You're naked," Jongup pointed out.

Junhong looked down. "So I am."

It didn't seem to faze him. If Jongup was honest with himself, he would say that he's used to seeing Junhong's dick, which is rather sad.

"Junnie, please tell Jongup what my friend, Yongguk, is like," Himchan ordered.

Junhong looked like he was lost in thought.

"Yongguk... wasn't that the guy you told me about that set the cafeteria tray on fire?" Junhong asked.

Jongup couldn't believe that he was meeting one of Himchan's friends on a fake blind date so that he could be his fake boyfriend.

"I meant good things," Himchan corrected.

"Um... he once made out with a guy because the guy paid him twenty dollars to make out with him to freak out his parents," Junhong said, rather hesitantly.

"Never mind. You're obviously of no help. Jongup, he's a good guy, I promise. A few screws missing, but he will help you," Himchan told him.

"I already agreed to meet him, so there's no backing out of this. No matter how weird your friend is," Jongup told him.

"Excellent! I'll schedule a meeting between you two. My guess is that he's free tomorrow. I'll set it up after your shift is over, so there won't be any clashes between your work. That way you two will get to know one another," Himchan said.

Jongup only sighed to himself and stared at the mug Himchan placed in front of him. How did that get there?

"As much as I like to hear this conversation, Himchan needs to meet up with Sunhwa and her family. We'll discuss more on the plan later," Junhong said.

Himchan groaned, but got up anyway and walked back to Junhong's room. To change is what Jongup is guessing. To what, he doesn't want to know. Junhong had a look of love and wanting.

"You're starring again," Jongup pointed out.

"Well, he's my boyfriend, you know," Junhong said.

"I'm sure. So what's the plan to get you two married? I didn't get to hear all of it," Jongup asked.

"Well, we have several plans, but we need to get together with Sunhwa to settle the plan together. Which means moving up the date if we go with plan G," Junhong answered, a little lost in thought.

"Plan G? How many plans do you have?" Jongup asked.

"Plans A through L. Some are repeats with different scenarios," Junhong answered.

Jongup believes that he picked the weirdest friends ever. How did he get stuck with a bunch of weirdos?

Then again, he did accidentally set the school desk on fire because it was too cold. Weirdos find each other.

Jongup snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Junhong's door opened. Himchan stepped out, wearing a clean white buttoned shirt, black tie, black jeans, and burgundy dress shoes. His hair still looked a mess and Jongup could easily spot a love bite on the older's neck. Whether Himchan is in a hurry, or he didn't have time to clean himself up a bit.

"Alright, I'm leaving. I'll meet you tomorrow with Sunhwa. We'll discuss more of the plan later. Jongup, I'll text you the details," Himchan said.

Himchan kissed Junhong on the side of his mouth and left the apartment. Jongup only watched the exchange. He always felt like an interloper, watching these two. He felt so lonely and so strange. Maybe when all of this is over, he'll start finding a date. New Year's resolution.

"We should get going soon, too. There's a cafe around here that serves paninis and if we get there soon, we'll beat the lunch rush," Junhong said.

Jongup watched the naked Junhong walking confidently back to his room and closed the door. Jongup really needs some stronger coffee. He took a sip and then went back to his own room to change.

\-----

Jongup and Junhong entered the rather small cafe. It felt a lot homier than the Swan Cafe that they went to yesterday. They ordered some iced coffees and a couple of sandwiches until they went to sit down in the middle of the cafe. The cafe has a few famous paintings (obviously they were copies), and a few pictures of famous musicians. It looked rather artsy.

"Should I tell you one of my plans or will that ruin the surprise?" Junhong asked, fiddling around with his knife.

"Might as well tell me now," Jongup said.

"Well, we are either going to get hitched in some Vegas-like area while Sunhwa gets married to the guy she actually wants to be married to," Junhong explains.

"Why doesn't she just marry him?" Jongup asked.

"Something about how he doesn't have enough money to support her. I don't know. Her family doesn't like him," Junhong answered.

"It might work, but it won't be considered legal," Jongup stated.

"You're right. Another one of the plans we were considering was that I dress up like the bride and get married to Himchan while still wearing the veil. That way it can be legal and I get to wear a pretty dress," Junhong explained.

"Sunhwa is, like, two feet shorter than you. How are you planning to pull that off?" Jongup asked him.

"She's a lot taller than we think and she wears these really tall heels. Although she now comes up to my eyes, it can still work. I just wear these kitty heels that Hyosung has," Junhong answered.

"It can work. But what happens when Himchan lifts the veil to reveal you and not Sunhwa? I'm pretty sure the entire family will be pissed at you," Jongup pointed out.

Junhong pouted and looked a little stumped.

"Do you think you should go with this plan of yours?" Junhong asked.

"What, officiating the wedding? Because if you're uncomfortable with that, we can find a different person-"

"Not that! I meant with Himchan's friend," Junhong explained.

Before Jongup could answer, their food arrived to their table. The waiter placed the food and drinks carefully on top of the table. The two thanked their waiter and took small bites of their lunch.

"I mean, Youngjae is going to expect me to bring a date. I would be completely fine with skipping the wedding, but I feel like I need to prove something. That if Youngjae can move on, then so can I. I know that using some random stranger isn't a way to go, but it's just temporary. After all of this is done, I'll find myself a real boyfriend," Jongup answered.

He looked up and furrowed his eyebrows. Junhong wiped an invisible tear from his cheek and sniffled.

"My best friend is growing up," Junhong said in a fake cracked voice.

Jongup rolled his eyes and took another bite from his sandwich. His friend is weird.

"Do you work today? I forgot to ask," Junhong asked.

"Not today. Tomorrow, I do. Himchan is supposed to text me the details of the meeting with his friend from his childhood. I hope he isn't a creep," Jongup answered.

"Knowing Himchan, possibly. Although there are different creeps. The creep that stalks people because they're obsessive, the creep that is into some kinky stuff, and the creep that will possibly kill you if given the chance," Junhong listed off.

Jongup needs new friends.

\-----

Jongup opened his apartment door and landed face first onto the couch. He's glad that Junhong decided to spend some time at Himchan's place. More time to himself. He felt his phone buzz against his chest and groaned. He turned around and opened his phone. He saw a text message from Himchan.

From: Himuchan

_You'll be meeting Yongguk tomorrow around three at Night Coffee Shop. Dress casually._

Jongup has no idea what Himchan is implying, but he doesn't delve too much into it. He gets up from the couch and decides to finally sleep in his own bed. It's soft and comfy.

He instantly sleeps in his own clothes.


	3. December 3

Jongup got off the bus and began the eight minute walk it took to get to work. There were some distractions along the walk, but he still makes it on time because he always gets there early no matter what. The bookstore where he worked is a bit smaller than the chain bookstores, but it still attracted customers. Both local and tourists that wonder into this part of the city.

When Jongup entered the bookstore, it was a little warmer than the outside and it looked like they were getting ready for the Christmas season. There were snowflakes dangling along the ceiling that he knew his coworkers did and a stack of books to make it look like a Christmas tree. Why they didn't get a fake tree, even he doesn't know. He doesn't really question management that much.

"Jongup! Come help us get the Christmas book tree ready! We only have two books out here," one of his co-workers, Minjae, called out.

Jongup walked towards the back, punched in his number, and wore his name tag around his throat. He grabbed a box of old books that nobody will ever read and took it towards the center of the store.

"I don't understand why we can't get a fake tree like every other store," Jongup complained as Euijin grabbed some of the books from the stack and began to form the tree.

"Because management said so. Sumin may be the assistant manager, but she has to listen to corporate," Euijin said.

Jongup loved Christmas in the store, but setting up the Christmas book tree was a pain in the ass that he doesn't want to deal with.

About an hour of setting the books up in an intricate patter to look like a tree, they got the decorations set up and the lights wrapped around. Jongup turned on the lights and it began to glow, with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickinson as the star.

"Okay, we left Sumin alone behind the registers and she's the only one of the floor. We need to get back to work," Minjae ordered.

Jongup took his position behind the register with Sumin and began to get everybody's purchases ready. He also dealt with some returns (since he's the only one in this store besides Yoonsun that knows it.)

After dealing with rather dumb customers and being on his feet for eight hours, it was finally time for him to go home.

"Alright, I'm heading out!" he called out.

The girls and Kyungwook all said goodbye to him as Jongup left the store. He pulled his coat closer to his body and began to walk to the Night Coffee Shop that Himchan told him to meet Yongguk. It wasn't a far walk, but it was getting cold and a bit windy. He finally came to the Night Coffee Shop and entered inside. There were a few people, but nothing that matched the description that Himchan sent him. He stood in line and began to order a cup of iced tea. He ordered, paid, and waited. After a few minutes later, he accepted his iced tea and took a seat by the window. He began to text Himchan.

To: Himuchan:

_I'm here and your friend hasn't shown up._

Jongup waited a few minutes before he got a response.

From: Himuchan:

_Just wait. Yongguk told me that he just got off work and he should be there soon._

Jongup sighed and waited. And waited. And waited. Jongup already finished his rather large iced tea and continued to wait. The door opened and a man entered the Night Coffee Shop. Jongup ignored him and began to play some games on his phone to pass the time.

"Excuse me, are you Jongup?" a man asked him.

Jongup looked up and saw it was the man that just entered the Night Coffee Shop a few minutes ago. Shaggy hair with a caveman voice, a tattoo that was barely visible from his shirt, and a slight tan if he looked closely.

"I am. How did you know?" Jongup asked.

The man, Yongguk, sat across from him.

"Himchan's description. You don't look like a sad, lonely man," Yongguk answered.

He was ready to kill Himchan.

"So he told me the situation. He told me you were looking for a fake date for your ex's wedding," Yongguk said.

"Well, a fake boyfriend, really," Jongup corrected.

"May I ask why you're attending your ex's wedding? It seems a bit ridiculous, to be honest," Yongguk stated.

"We were friends in high school. Still friends, I guess. I want to prove to him that I finally moved on from our relationship," Jongup explained.

"I'm guessing you haven't, seeing as how you need a fake boyfriend," Yongguk stated.

"Look, I'm gonna pay you to be my fake boyfriend, not talk shit about me," Jongup told him.

"I didn't realize I've been hired so soon," Yongguk said.

Jongup realized that this was definitely Himchan's friend.

"So, should we set up some, like, ground rules or something?" Jongup asked.

"Sure. Your standards. I don't want to push the boundaries that you want to set up," Yongguk said.

"Alright. Well, rule one should be that if we're going to meet up, it should be at a public place. No going to each other's place," Jongup said.

"Easy enough to follow."

"Second rule should be that, unless instructed otherwise, no kissing of any kind. Third rule, no sex either," Jongup listed off.

"Darn, and you were so good looking," Yongguk said. Jongup knows that he's faking disappointment.

"Fourth rule, no falling in love. I already decided that I'm going to search for someone in the beginning of the year and, quite frankly, you're not my type," Jongup told him.

"That's fair. You're not mine, either," Yongguk said.

At least they got that settled.

"Any other rules, or should that be it? To be honest, it's about the same as my rules when I establish the whole fake date thing," Yongguk tells him.

"Do you get a lot of people who need fake dates?" Jongup asked him.

"Of course! Boys and girls. I only provide services that are needed," Yongguk answered.

"Are you an escort?" Jongup asked.

He heard Yongguk laughing. It sounded way too different from what he looks like. And his voice.

"Something to that nature. Except I don't sleep with my clients. So when will this wedding take place?" Yongguk asked him.

"Christmas," Jongup answered.

"Well, it's gonna be a merry Christmas, then. When will you want to meet up again?" Yongguk asked him.

"Tomorrow? I guess? That way we can get our stories better and tell you how we met. Because how we met is rather crucial," Jongup answered.

"Very. I don't understand why you won't tell me here," Yongguk said.

"Because I have a lot more information that we need to discuss in order for this to work. Believe me, I would love to tell you the conditions in which we must make this right, but I have a DVR filled with my tapped shows that I need to get catch up on," Jongup explained.

"Say no more. I have a Game of Thrones marathon I need to attend to," Yongguk said.

The two exchanged numbers and agreed to meet back in the Night Coffee Shop. Jongup has a short shift tomorrow, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Jongup only hopes that what he's going is right.


	4. December 4

Work was work and it pained Jongup to even say that. The customers are even more demanding and are asking each time if their order has arrived yet. Jongup has explained several times that if they didn't receive an email telling them that their order has arrived, then it hasn't arrived. He was ready to tear these people a new one.

"I'm surprised you even held on this long," his manager, Sungwon, said.

"I almost yelled at a customer because they asked why a specific book hasn't reached our shelves until I found out that the book hasn't been released yet. We're a bookstore, not a time machine," Jongup pointed out.

"I wouldn't blame you, but we have to keep up customer satisfaction," he said.

Jongup left the bookstore and made his way to the Night Coffee Shop. He entered inside and paused for a moment He never realized, because he was waiting for Yongguk to arrive, the decor the place had. The wallpaper was black, of course, but it had white dots painted on it to make it look like the stars. The lightbulbs ahead were dangling from the ceiling. It glowed a luminescent white and twinkled ever so slightly that made it looks like the night sky. Everything looked like it had something to do with space in general. It looked so beautiful.

"Are you going to stare, or are you going to get something?" a familiar voice asked.

He jumped and looked up at Yongguk. He was wearing a business suit, which seemed a bit odd from the clothes he was wearing yesterday. Jongup didn't really question it and decided to leave it alone.

"I was admiring the decor. I didn't get a chance to yesterday," Jongup explained.

Yongguk said nothing as he began to place his order. He was also chitchatting with the cashier, as if they were life-long friends. When it was Jongup's turn, he ordered the same thing from yesterday and paid. He walked towards where Yongguk was waiting and stared at the board. The board was a chalkboard where one could write on, and Jongup could see that someone drew the ten planets from the sun. It was a bit cute.

"So, you come here often?" Jongup asked.

"I don't know if you're being serious or flirting with me, so I'm going with the former. I often come here because it's closer to work and they make the best tiger tail donuts," Yongguk answered.

Jongup only snickered. He said nothing as their coffee orders were called out.

"Thanks, Nahyun," he said.

Jongup accepted his drink and followed Yongguk toward a booth. He sat down across from him and fiddled with his drink.

"Alright, so how did we meet?" Yongguk asked him.

"At the bookstore where I work. It's called Nook Corner Books. You were shy and kept ordering or asking ridiculous books until I finally caught on and put my number in a book you wanted to buy," Jongup answered.

"I sound like a wimp," Yongguk said.

"It was the only story I could think of when Youngjae asked me," Jongup explained.

"It still makes me sound like a wimp. And there's no way to change that at all?" Yongguk asked.

"Nope, so we're stuck with that story," Jongup answered.

"Alright. So then how did our first date go?" Yongguk asked.

"Well, I was thinking of dinner and a movie, but I feel like that's a bit too cliché for my taste. Any ideas?" Jongup said.

"I was thinking a romantic boat ride for lunch. During your lunch break, I take you on a rather romantic boat ride and feed you chocolate covered strawberries for dessert and made you these small sandwiches for the main course," Yongguk said, having a far off look.

"Wow, such a romantic, you," Jongup teased, smirking.

"Hey, it works, okay. Then you agreed to a second date," Yongguk told him.

"Sure. And then I try to be romantic, but I fail miserably," Jongup said as he took a sip of his iced tea.

"Not everyone can be winners," Yongguk replied.

Jongup wanted to wipe the smirk off the bastard's face.

"So how long are we saying we're dating for?" Yongguk asked.

"I was thinking a year and some odd months," Jongup answered.

"That would make sense. We met in May, I think," he said.

"May? Why may?"

"May is a rather romantic month. It's where spring finally comes alive."

Jongup smiled and only shook his head. Maybe it was. He felt his phone beep and groaned. He looked at the text message and sighed to himself.

"Well, this meeting is officially adjourned. I am going to a tuxedo shop and helping Himchan pick out his tux for his wedding," Jongup tells him.

"He's finally getting married to Junhong?" Yongguk asked.

"I wish. No, he's getting married to Sunhwa. Those three have this weird plan in how they're going to get Himchan to marry Junhong and Sunhwa to get married to her boyfriend. It's all very weird and I wanted no part in this, but they asked me to officiate the wedding," Jongup answered.

Yongguk looked a little confused. Jongup didn't blame him. He does look a bit young to officiate weddings, but it wasn't his first wedding to officiate. He mostly did it as a joke, but the gig was starting to grow on him.

"They must have a lot of free time on their hands to stage all of this. Why don't they just call off the wedding and let them get together instead?" Yongguk asked.

"I asked that same question, but it turns out that an arranged marriage is a bit harder to cancel," Jongup explained.

After that discussion, the two parted on separate ways, agreeing to text one another to establish more details into their plans.

\-----

At the tuxedo shop, he was watching Himchan getting fitted for his tux. Junhong was nowhere to be found, and that scared him a little bit.

"Should I ask where Junhong is?" Jongup asked him.

"Nope!"

Jongup figured.

The tailor was busy getting Himchan's measurements. Himchan had the habit of giggling every time a sensitive spot was touched and it was making it harder for the tailor to continue his job.

"So how's the plan coming along?" Himchan asked.

"Which one?" Jongup asked, browsing through different catalogs on suits. There were so many different colors and names for tuxedos.

"The fake dating one," Himchan explained.

"It's going. Yongguk is not as weird as I thought he was going to be," Jongup said.

"I told you you'd like him! He's a catch," Himchan said.

"I wouldn't say that, but he's a great idea to show Youngjae that I'm finally over the break up. We've established some rules and boundaries and I think we can pull it off," Jongup said.

"Well, just be careful," Himchan warned.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows at Himchan's warning.

"Why is that?"

"Obviously you haven't seen enough chick flicks. Once someone does fake dating, they always get together in the end. It's that chemistry. Your life is turning into a chick flick," Himchan told him.

"Well, that's not going to happen to us. We're going to keep it professional and then we'll be going our separate ways," Jongup said.

"Be careful. That's what they all say," Himchan warned.

Jongup threw a pillow at Himchan, which earned him a scolding from the tailor. Jongup didn't care. It made Himchan laugh.

They didn't speak of this subject for the rest of the day.


	5. December 5

Today was one of the weirdest day of Jongup's week. And that's saying a lot, since a lot of weird things have happened. He accidentally got invited to his ex's wedding, he hired one of Himchan's friends to be his fake boyfriend, and somehow Himchan and Junhong are gonna get secretly married.

When he woke up this morning, Junhong told him that they needed to leave for a dress fitting. He figured that it would be them and Sunhwa's bridesmaids to find a wedding dress for the wedding. Which was strange because he thought that she already picked out a dress.

He was way off.

When he entered the dress shop, Sunhwa was the only person in the room.

"Sunhwa, where are your bridesmaids?" Jongup asked her.

"Looking for their own dresses, I'm assuming. They went to some cheap dress shop down the street to find some cheap dresses," she answered.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows. He turned his head and saw Junhong looking at the wedding dresses. Now he kind of understood what was going on.

"Oh god, you guys are going for the crossdressing plan, aren't you?" Jongup accused.

"Plan J, but yes. I think it'll be a great plan," Sunhwa answered.

She looked rather calm about this entire process. Jongup didn't understand girls. He knew it was going to be a rather long day, but he might be a bit entertained with it a bit.

"Should I go with a mermaid dress or one that looks like a halter top?" Junhong asked, looking at the few dresses. He was surprised that Junhong even knew what they were.

"Keep looking. You'll find the perfect dress," Sunhwa told him.

"Did you already pick yours for what's his name?" Jongup asked.

"Kwanghee. And yes. We have everything sorted out for the wedding," Sunhwa said.

"Sunhwa, this is too hard!" they heard Junhong whine.

"What's too heard?" Sunhwa asked, sipping her champagne that the tailor handed out.

"These dresses! Nothing pops out at me and all of them are too short," Junhong whined.

Sunhwa groaned and got up from her spot on the couch. She began to angrily cuss him out, but Jongup pretty much ignored them. He stared at all the frilly dresses and the different fabric type they had. And then at the prince.

This wedding dress costs more than his yearly annual salary.

"I found it!" he heard Junhong declare.

Jongup walked towards where the voices are and sees Junhong in a sleeveless dress, with the top acting like a corset with a rather intricate design on it and the skirt rather frilly, and it looked more like a ball gown than anything. He noted that Junhong was wearing a veil on top of his head. Smart. The top part of the dress where the breasts were supposed to fill out was falling over and Junhong had to place the corset top close to his chest so the dress doesn't reveal anything. The dress almost covered his rather tall frame, but the length was still a bit short. Other than that, it made Junhong glow a little and, with a bit of alternations and fixing, it could actually fit Junhong.

"Oh, Himchan is going to love you in this! You look so beautiful," Sunhwa told him.

"To be honest, when I was a kid, I always wanted to wear a wedding dress for my wedding. My dad said that boys wear tuxedos and that girls wear dresses. Well, this shows him, doesn't it?" Junhong admitted.

"I advise getting a thicker veil. You're impersonating Sunhwa and we need to make it look realistic," Jongup told him.

"You're right. Which means we need to find some wigs that matches Sunhwa's hair," Junhong concluded.

"Junhong, that's not what I-"

"Excuse me, how much is this dress?" Junhong asked the sale's lady.

After Junhong paid for the dress (which was a lot more than Jongup realized and he was surprised that Junhong spent that money, no questions asked) and the tailor took his measurements, the three made their way to the beauty supply store.

"Why do I have to tag along?" Jongup asked.

"Emotional best friend support. It's either this, or you get to see Himchan drinking wine and being fake about it," Junhong answered.

Jongup was thinking the second option was tempting, but Junhong was dragging him to the beauty supply store, so he didn't really have a choice in the matter.

"Hi, can I help you three?" a lady asked.

"Hi, we're looking for a wig for my friend here. He needs it for a party," Sunhwa told her.

Jongup was surprised that Sunhwa could lie so easily. Then again, this entire thing is a giant lie that he's surprised that they're going with.

"Of course! Come, sir, and we'll find the perfect wig for you," the lady said, holding her hand out for him.

"Will you also teach me how to contour?" Junhong asked, following the lady towards the back.

Jongup didn't get to hear her answer. He was mostly looking around the store. So many products for women to have. Eye liner, lip liner, mascara, eye shadow, lipstick, and so on.

He feels bad for girls.

"What's this?" Jongup asked, holding a sort of clear spray bottle that looked rather expensive.

"It's to make sure the bikini doesn't ride up," Sunhwa answered.

It held some sort of green liquid that he's pretty sure if he drops it, there will be a hole on the floor. He placed the spray bottle down and continued to look. He saw Sunhwa conversing with the woman behind the counter. Of what, he's not too sure.

After spending an hour in the store, Junhong emerges out of the back, wearing a dark brown wig that reached just below his shoulders and his make-up done rather nicely. His make-up looking like a professional did it.

"I got some products for the wedding!" Junhong announced, clutching onto a bag filled with whatever it is that Jongup doesn't want to know.

"Junhong, you look so pretty! Himchan is going to be crying when he sees you," Sunhwa exclaimed, clutching onto his hands.

Jongup did admit, Junhong looked rather pretty. He remembered back in high school when Junhong liked to cross dress a lot. His parents found out about it and he didn't see Junhong for a year. When he came back, he looked so tired and expressionless. Jongup then concluded that Junhong cross dress in secret.

It's been a while since Junhong cross dressed, but he looked to be in his element right now. He looked rather happy.

He wondered if Himchan knew of this side of Junhong.

"It turns out I've been doing my make-up wrong this entire time. Now I have some new products to try out," Junhong said.

After buying the products and the several different wigs, they all left the store. Jongup was starting to get tired.

"Who wants lunch? I'm buying?" Sunhwa asked.

Lunch, he could do.

\-----

Jongup returned home right after lunch, with Junhong following right behind him. Junhong went to his room and hung the dress in his closet. Jongup didn't know where Junhong placed the wigs and make-up, but he really doesn't want to know. What he does is the younger's own business.

"You know, after I get married to Himchan, I'm going to be moving out of here and into an actual house. Or at least, move in with Himchan," Junhong said, breaking the silence of the apartment.

"I kind of figured. Why? Did he asked you to move in with you finally?" Jongup asked.

"A few times. I wasn't ready to live with him yet. Now that I know that he's willing to sacrifice his social status to be with someone like me, I think I'm ready. Obviously it won't be now. My best friend still needs me a little longer. It's just... I'm a little scared. The world is so much bigger than I thought," Junhong explained.

"The world was always big. We were too small to realize it. It's sweet of you to think of me, but I think I'll be fine for now. We all need to make our mark on this rather strange world. And I'm glad you found someone," Jongup said.

"You'll find someone, too, you know. Youngjae may be your first love, but there will be other loves, too. If you want, I can set you up on some dates," Junhong offered.

"Thanks, but we'll see. I want to get through this year with Youngjae's wedding hanging over my head," Jongup said.

"That reminds me, we're scheduled for a tux fitting tomorrow morning. You work later, right?" Junhong asked.

That's right. He almost forgot about the fitting. He remembered Junhong writing the reminder on the calendar, but he completely ignored it.

"That's right. We're not his groomsmen, right?" Jongup asked.

"Well..."

"He didn't even ask! He just assumed, didn't he?"

"He offered. He looked really desperate, too," Junhong told him.

"But still! It would've been nice if he actually asked for once," Jongup muttered, pouting slightly.

"Oh hush. Now let's get some sleep. We have a big day tomorrow," Junhong told him.

He also needs to tell Yongguk about this. He'll deal with it in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i couldn't find the original dress that i picked for this fanfic, but [this](http://www.weddinggowns.bid/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/best-wedding-gowns-wonderful.jpg) one will do.


	6. December 6

The ride to Himchan's place wasn't as bad as Jongup thought. There was hardly any traffic and all the lights would turn green for him. Well, that's what he gets for waking up early.

It was getting up to his apartment that was a bit difficult.

No matter how much Junhong tried to convince the doorman that he knew Himchan, he wouldn't budge and let the two in. Something about them not being on a contact list or never seeing them before since he's worked there.

Which led Jongup to believe that this guy is possibly new. Junhong always came to Himchan's place for a 'sleepover' and then left when the morning sun shone on their face.

It wasn't until Junhong actually called Himchan to let them into his apartment did the doorman actually let them in. Amazing. It took one phone call from Himchan and everything was nice and dandy. He expected nothing. He wanted to so badly to flip off the doorman for making them late, however, but he knew that the guy was only doing his job.

When they got up to Himchan's floor, Himchan immediately kissed Junhong on the mouth, making Jongup feel rather awkward.

"So, when are we leaving for the fitting?" Jongup asked, rather awkwardly.

Himchan broke the kiss and looked over at Jongup. He then looked at his watch to figure out what time the actual fitting started.

"In about an hour. We need to discuss the plan," Himchan answered.

"I thought we were already ready for the plan," Jongup questioned.

The three entered inside Himchan's apartment. Really, it was a condo more than anything, but Himchan likes to call it his apartment to make him feel like he belonged to the peasant life with Jongup and Junhong. The apartment looked like a rich man lived here. Every room was color coordinated to make sure the aesthetic was there. The living room had rather soft colors, like white and a beige yellow. The kitchen was bright red with hardwood floors and a few countertops with granite on it. He never got to see the rest of the condo because he was afraid of breaking something. He always wondered what kind of job Himchan got to afford stuff like this. The three took off their shoes and Himchan closed the door behind him.

"Oh no, we got that covered. We're talking about you," Himchan explained.

Jongup raised an eyebrow.

"Me? What's going on?" Jongup asked.

"It's simple! We want to know how this is going to work. Youngjae is already bugging me about meeting your new boyfriend. Seriously, you two need to get into contact before I decide to punch him in the face," Himchan explained.

"And I already told you that I can't. It's already too awkward for me to be his friend again. Not until I know I can actually be friends with him without having some sort of feelings," Jongup admitted.

"It's been six years. When will you ever let go of your harboring infatuation with him? It's obvious he's moved on without you," Junhong pointed out.

Jongup ignored them and looked around the place. It's been a while since he's been here, but he can notice the subtle change of decor. Some of Junhong's stuff is already placed intricately throughout the living room. And that horrid rug that he begged Junhong to get rid of years ago was placed along with the decor.

"Jongup, we're being serious here. We want you to be happy. If you developed some sort of feelings for him-" Junhong started.

"Which I'm not, by the way." Jongup corrected.

"Then this is something that might be unhealthy. Need I remind you that Himchan and I started off that way in order to get his parents off his back and for my lonely ass to get a date for our yearly high school reunion," Junhong explained, clearly annoyed about being interrupted.

"Yeah, but you guys turned out okay. I'll admit, there were some questionable kinks you guys were trying out, but everything worked in the end," Jongup pointed out.

"Jongup, my parents were very unhappy with me with I was dating Junhong. They forced me into an arranged marriage and now I have to create some scheme in order to be legally married to him. How is that working out okay in the end?" Himchan questioned.

Okay, poor word choice.

"You know what I mean! Look, nothing is going to happen between me and Yongguk. For all I know, he's probably helping someone else with a fake dating problem. He even told me that it's his job," Jongup said.

"His expiration is usually two days max. Yours is twenty-five days," Himchan pointed out.

Were they really having this conversation right now?

"Look, let's just get to the tux fitting and we'll discuss this some other time. I want to get this day over with and hope I don't have to deal with Youngjae's face until the actual wedding," Jongup told them.

They only sighed, but they agreed. They grabbed their important items and made their way to the tuxedo shop.

\-----

The tuxedo shop was a bit smaller than the dress shop, but he didn't really expect much. Youngjae was waving at them, smiling brightly. Next to them was Jaebum and Jinyoung from high school. Jongup vaguely remembered them, but he remembered Youngjae mentioning them once or twice. Jaebum gave a rather sour look at Jongup when he walked in.

That's right. Jongup was dating Youngjae when Jaebum confessed.

"Daehyun is trying on his suit right now. I already have mine picked out, so I'm going to go ahead and change. You guys can get fitted," Youngjae said.

Jongup could tell that Youngjae was getting nervous. He didn't want anything to go sour, and inviting an ex to a wedding was definitely not a good plan.

Himchan went first when the tailor called out his next guest. Jongup sat on the opposite side of Jaebum and Jinyoung, with Junhong sitting right beside him.

"So... how are you?" Jongup asked awkwardly.

"We're fine. Jaebum and I got married in May," Jinyoung answered.

Jongup saw a silver band on their ring fingers. Then why was Jaebum glaring at Jongup like there's no tomorrow.

"Don't mind Jaebum. It's just his face. He glared at a table if he could," Jinyoung explained.

It seemed to be a lot more than that, but Jongup isn't going there.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, Himchan finally emerged from the back. He walked towards the couch and sat down.

"Next," the tailor called out.

Jongup immediately got up and followed the tailor towards the back. It seemed pretty standard and how he remembered getting fitted for Himchan's wedding. The tailor took rather important measurements and wrote it mostly on his hand.

"I'm assuming yours will be black as well?" the tailor asked.

"Why? What other colors can we have?" Jongup asked.

"Your friend asked me the same question when I brought it up. He chose blue, for whatever reason. These are he different colors that are presented in this store and what I can make," the tailor explained.

Jongup saw about four different colors that looked way cooler than black. They were all rather dark, but it was clear that they were different from the color black.

"Can I get emerald green? That's pretty cool, right?" Jongup said.

"Emerald green it is," he said.

With the measurements done, Jongup walked back out and sat back down. Youngjae finally appeared in front of them, with the pants legs bunched up by the ankles and sleeves a little bit too long. The shirt looked rather big on him, too.

"I think this was meant for someone else," Youngjae said.

"To be honest, Junhong looked like he could fit into that," Himchan commented.

"I'm good with the suit I'm picking, thanks," Junhong told him.

Youngjae let out a whine and walked back to the tailor - walking a bit awkwardly because of his situation. When Youngjae disappeared, Daehyun came out of the room, wearing his own suit. Jongup had to admit, but it looked good on him. It was a simple black tux, with a bow tie instead of a skinny tie like Youngjae was going to do. It made Daehyun look like a Bond character, to be honest, and Jongup hated it so much.

"I think this fits me well," Daehyun commented.

"Well, Youngjae is having problems with his own suit. You should change so you can comfort him," Jinyoung tells him.

Daehyun took heed and went back to change into his normal, civilian clothes. Jongup was growing a bit bored and tired. He felt his phone vibrate and looked at his phone.

From: unknown

_Hey, this is Yongguk. When do you want to meet again?_

Jongup almost forgot about him. He made a few quick changes and began to text back.

To: Yongguk

_Tomorrow is fine. We can meet at the Night Coffee Shop again. Or do you have somewhere else in mind?_

Jongup stuffed his phone in his pocket. When he made sure his phone is invisible, Youngjae came back out, wearing his normal clothes that made him look like a librarian. Daehyun came out soon after, holding onto the tux in his hand. Jongup didn't really understand what was going on, but he let them have their moment. He wasn't Youngjae's fiancé and he definitely isn't going into that territory.

"Alright, I think all the fitting is done. Well, besides Junhong," Youngjae said.

"I got my own suit, thanks," Junhong admitted.

"We'll email one another about important dates and such," Daehyun told them.

Everybody stood up and began to leave the tailor shop. Junhong and Himchan looked visibly uncomfortable with Jaebum and Jinyoung, and he wanted to ask what was going on, but he decided against it. He then felt his phone vibrate again.

From: Yongguk

_I was thinking the park. We need to practice kissing, I hope you know. We need to get comfortable._

That stopped Jongup in his tracks. He never mentioned kissing him. He remembered it being part of the boundaries. He didn't really remember much of the rules, but guess Yongguk is right. In order for this to be realistic, they need to make it realistic. Which also means kissing the living daylights out of Yongguk.

"Jongup, come on! We need to get home," Junhong called out.

Jongup walked into Junhong's car and the three drove off to Junhong and Jongup's apartment. To sleep, most likely.

And to sleep they did once they entered the apartment.


	7. December 7

Jongup has finally left work after dealing with some rather rude customers and demanding why their limited edition book that obviously hasn't come out yet arrived in his store. Jongup has ever so calmly explained that they're not a time machine. They are a bookstore. A very lowly bookstore and it will take a few days for the book to actually be released.

He also explained that unless they get a confirmation email stating that their order has arrived to the store, they weren't going to get their order.

So he finally got off work and made his way to the local park where Yongguk said to be. To be honest, he wasn't sure what he was expecting when he decided to come to the park. Everything was a little scary and he didn't know if he should be giddy or start running from the hills. It took a few minutes to find Yongguk, who was hunched over on a park bench reading a book to pass the time. He had the urge to scare Yongguk right then, but he didn't really know the man so he couldn't really scare him.

"You look like a forest fairy," Jongup blurted out when he walked closer to him.

Yongguk looked up and raised an eyebrow. Alright, so Jongup's giant mouth isn't going to help in this situation.

"I'm going to ignore that you just called me a forest fairy. Right now, we need to discuss more about this fake dating thing," he said.

"Sure. What do you need to know?" Jongup asked.

"Everything? I guess? I don't even know you. I don't even know your last name," Yongguk confessed.

"Well, my last name is Moon, if that helps," Jongup said.

"Mine is Bang. Alright, so we know each other's last names. Now we need to get into more of knowing one another. That way is could be a bit more realistic," Yongguk explained.

"So, we get to know each other and then we kiss right after for practice? I can deal with that," Jongup said.

"So what shall I know about Moon Jongup? Childhood memories, family, maybe some interests I should be aware of?" Yongguk asked.

"Well, I grew up with two older brothers. My parents are... not all there, I guess. I mostly count on my brothers more than anything," Jongup explained.

"Lucky. I grew up with an older sister and a twin brother. My dad worked as a marine. My mom is pretty normal, but she tries too hard to make us into this giant happy family. When we were younger, we used to confuse our extended family because my twin and I looked so much alike," Yongguk asked.

"What's your twin's name?" Jongup asked him.

"Yongnam. When you see pictures of us, you would believe that we're one person," Yongguk answered.

"I don't even believe that there is more than one Yongguk in this world. One day, you'll show me pictures," Jongup tells him.

"Sure. We have Himchan as a mutual friend. Maybe we'll see each other at their wedding or something," Yongguk said.

"So you know of their plan, then?" Jongup asked.

"Himchan told me the plan, yes. I'm his best man, you know. We're old friends," Yongguk explained.

"Well, I'm officiating the wedding, so I'll see you there."

"What about any interests? Do you like officiating weddings?" Yongguk asked.

"I get paid for it. I'm not a priest, so I'm a second-hand officiate, if you will," Jongup explained. "My interests constitute of dancing and books. You know, I once auditioned to be a kpop star."

"Shit, really? So did I," Yongguk said.

"Really? For what?"

"I was an underground rapper at the time by the name of Jepp Blackman. I know; a tacky name. I was a teenager at the time, I think. One of my older friends recommended I try out for this company that I think was starting out. I auditioned and I got accepted, but I got accepted into college, so I picked college," Yongguk explained.

"Same thing. I auditioned a while back for a back-up dancer, but then I sang and the judges were impressed. They accepted me, but I got into the school of my dreams, so I chose the school. What company did you apply to?" Jongup said.

"TS," he answered.

Jongup narrowed his eyes. "So did I..."

"Wow. What a small world! What do you think would've happened if we did accept the audition?" Yongguk asked.

"You might be in a kpop band. I'll be a backup dancer for a group or something. It doesn't matter. It didn't happen, and I'm glad. I get to eat whatever the hell I want without someone counting my food intake and being judged by strangers halfway across the world," Jongup said.

"Such a strange view," he muttered.

"Whatever. What are your interests?" Jongup asked him.

"Rapping, of course. I love music. I run a music store just a few blocks down across the street from the Night Coffee Shop. It's convenient and I love it," Yongguk answered.

"Sounds like heaven," Jongup said.

"A little bit. I love the music shop, the music that plays, and the variety of customers I get in the store. Not one person has the same taste in music. Maybe the same taste in bands, but for different reasons," Yongguk said.

Jongup only stared at him.

"Were you a philosophy major at one point or...?"

"Nope. Music major. Should be obvious, though, but I understand your confusion," Yongguk said.

It took six hours of conversing with one another about their interests, their hobbies, and their fears.

"I have a fear of heights. It terrifies me and it makes me think I'm gonna fall. Bugs are another one because they're gross and disgusting," Jongup explained.

"I have a fear of rejection. I never liked being rejected from something I'm passionate about. Whether it's about a relationship or a job opportunity, but it terrifies me when they tell me I'm not good enough. Creepy dolls because they're creepy and I remember reading about a haunted doll at one point when I was younger and it terrified me. Never again," Yongguk answered.

"I like the fact that you turned philosophical and serious in one sentence, and then created something ridiculous in the next. I have never met someone who could do that," Jongup said.

"Well, it's my specialty, I guess. My brother knew about my fear and placed a doll in my bed. I screamed and cried and slept in my sister's room because of that. She wasn't very pleased with that," Yongguk said.

"You must have a close sibling relationship. I tried to sleep in my brother's bed because I had a nightmare and he just kicked me off my bed," Jongup said, reminiscing about it. He was eight, probably, and his brother only saw him as an annoyance.

"Do you have a color preference?" Yongguk asked.

"Random, but not really. I don't have one. My color preferences changed throughout the years until I realized I don't have a favorite color. What's yours?" Jongup asked.

"I like red. And not like a bright red, either. I mean like a scarlet red. The deep, deep color red," Yongguk explained.

"How specific of you," Jongup said.

"Of course! I'm a very specific person," Yongguk said.

The two fell in comfortable silence, which is strange. Jongup looked up at the sky and saw that it was getting a bit dark. For some reason, he didn't want any of this to end.

"I think we should kiss, don't you think?" Yongguk asked.

That almost made Jongup fall off his seat on the park bench.

"For the wedding, of course. For our fake dating and everything. We need to make it look realistic as we possibly can so that others will believe we're actually dating," Yongguk explained.

Right. Sure. The wedding. Jongup almost forgot about that. He positioned himself rather awkwardly on the bench and saw Yongguk doing the same.

"So how do you want to do this? Just straight in or really slow?" Jongup asked.

"Whatever you want. I, personally, don't have a preference," Yongguk answered.

Well, this made it a bit difficult. He leaned in close to Yongguk's face to the point where he could feel his breath. And then something bubbled in Jongup's throat. He pressed a hand over his mouth as he left out a fit of giggles. He saw Yongguk smiling widely as Jongup continued giggling.

"I'm sorry, I can't stop laughing. God, I don't know what came over me," Jongup admitted.

"It's okay. Want to try again?" Yongguk asked.

Jongup calmed himself down and took a deep breath. He leaned in close to Yongguk again, but can't stop giggling.

"If you don't stop laughing, I will kiss you," Yongguk threatened.

"I'd like to see you try-"

Jongup's sentence was cut off as Yongguk pressed his lips against Jongup's mouth. Jongup fluttered his eyes closed and kissed him back. His lips were a lot thinner than Youngjae's but the kiss still made his heart do funny things. Jongup almost whined when Yongguk pulled away.

"Okay, if we do that for a couple of days, you should stop laughing every time we kiss," Yongguk told him.

"So what, tomorrow, we do this again?" Jongup asked.

"I don't see why not. We got about two weeks to perfect this, you know. Maybe less, but I'm not counting. So, same time tomorrow?" Yongguk asked.

"Sure, but we should actually go on dates, you know. Get to know one another by how one interacts outside," Jongup said.

"You're right. I'll bring my laptop to the Night Coffee Shop and we'll figure out where we should go on our first fake date," Yongguk said.

The two agreed to meet at Night and went their separate ways. Jongup still can't stop thinking of the kiss he just experienced.


	8. December 8

Jongup was surprised with how work went. He rarely got angry customers, some people had a piece of paper to indicate that their books came in (which they did), and he got some rather smiling faces.

Which meant something was up.

He left the bookstore and began to make the trip home. It may not be emotionally draining, but he was exhausted from being on his feet for a few hours. After an hour of traveling through bus, he walked into his apartment and flopped himself on the couch.

"Jongup? Are you home?" he heard Junhong call out.

Jongup muffled through the pillows that sounded either like a grunt or a groan. Either way, Junhong came out of his room and saw Jongup face-first on the couch.

"Long day?" Junhong asked.

Jongup lifted his head up and checked the time. It was only 4:30. He remembered being up late because his head was continuously swimming with thoughts of what happened yesterday. He's been kissed before, and he has kissed others before as well; by both boys and girls. However, as Jongup so lightly pointed out, he would giggle constantly when he kisses someone he likes. Himchan calls it 'a bout of nervous giggles'. He remembered giggling when he was going to kiss Youngjae.

"Hey, what are your thoughts on Jinyoung and Jaebum?" Junhong asked him.

Jongup shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. They're good people, I guess," Jongup answered.

Junhong looked a little bit uncomfortable.

"What? What's going on?" Jongup asked him.

"Well... Jaebum said some rather questionable things about you," Junhong confessed.

"Like...?" Jongup questioned.

"Well, Jaebum said that the only reason Youngjae stuck around with you when he was in college and you were in high school is that he felt sorry for you. That you were a pathetic dweeb in high school," Junhong replied.

"He's just pissed because he couldn't date Youngjae and he's now showing that anger now. Besides, he has Jinyoung. Why is he so pissed about it now?" Jongup asked.

"Himchan asked him that, too. Jinyoung replied that Jaebum sometimes won't let go of the past. Jaebum stated that Youngjae shouldn't have gone through that whole ordeal when he was a freshman in college. That you were selfish for still holding on to him," Junhong explained.

"Youngjae and I made that deal together. We agreed that we would go to the same college. It's not my fault that angry pants couldn't date Youngjae when we were in college. And good for him, too, because he and Youngjae are way too different. Youngjae is fully of energy and laughs and Jaebum has a temper," Jongup replied.

Junhong was about to respond to that, until Jongup's phone buzzed in his pocket. He grabbed his phone out and looked at the new text message.

From: Yongguk

_So today, at six. Dress casually and warmly. Weather predicts a chance of snow._

"What was that?" he heard Junhong ask him, leaning in a little too close.

Jongup was startled and looked up.

"Jesus, you fucking scared me. What?" Jongup asked him.

"That little smile that you did. Why are you smiling over a text?" Junhong asked.

"It's nothing. Yongguk made dinner plans and we're going to go over the plan a little more. I don't know what he wants to know. We spent almost all day yesterday at the park to get to know one another," Jongup explained.

The room was silent for a little bit. Jongup tapped the reply button on his phone and began to reply to him.

"Holy shit, something else happened, didn't it?" Junhong accused.

Jongup nearly dropped his phone.

"Jesus fuck! Watch yourself," Jongup warned.

"Sorry, but I'm right, right? Something else happened. Did you sleep with him?" Junhong asked.

"What? Fuck no! We barely know one another. No, he wanted to practice kissing so that we could be rather natural. That was all. Nothing else happened," Jongup explained.

"What, did you giggle before you two kissed?" Junhong asked sarcastically.

The air was silent and slightly awkward.

"Holy shit, you did! You know what this means? That you like him!"

"I don't like him! It caught me by surprise. Besides, why would I like someone I barely met. He's Himchan's friend and that's all I know from him," Jongup explained.

"Who knows! Maybe you'll start to like him. I suggest you sleep with him before you lose your nerve. Lord knows that you need some good fucking. And I heard that Yongguk is great at that," Junhong said.

Jongup instantly threw a pillow at Junhong's head. He heard Junhong laughing as he made his way back to his room. Jongup rolled his eyes and began to type his reply.

To: Yongguk

_Your description is vague and it scares me. What should I expect?_

Jongup set his phone down as he began to get ready. He needs to look at least nice. His clothes consisted of pullover sweaters and a button down shirt. He never liked wearing these clothes during the winter. He only wore them for work. And it always made him look like a nerd or a librarian.

Himchan once commented that he looked like a sexy librarian when he wore glasses and that earned a slap from Junhong.

He went with his rather cozy blue and white stripped sweater and a black button down shirt. He chose a pair of jeans and a pair of converse. He began to change into his new clothes when his phone vibrated.

From: Yongguk

_That will be a surprise. Come on, where's your sense of adventure?_

Jongup has every right to tell him to fuck off, but he bit that one down. He changed into his new clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. He didn't look too bad, he guesses. Now he looked more like a professor than anything. He put in his contacts and grabbed his phone and keys.

"I'm leaving!" Jongup called out.

He heard Junhong saying something, but he ignored it. He walked out of the apartment and towards the bus stop. He began to wait, until a car pulled up.

"Are you Moon Jongup?" the driver asked him.

"Should I be scared?" Jongup asked.

"If you're Moon Jongup, then a Bang Yongguk asked me to pick you up and take you to your destination," the driver explained.

"Well, I am. Will I die?" Jongup asked as he got into the car.

\-----

The driver dropped him off in front of what looked like an Italian restaurant. He hasn't had Italian in so long. He walked up to the front desk and saw that it was a lot fancier than he thought.

"Reservations?" the hostess asked him.

Jongup jumped a little and smiled awkwardly.

"Yes. Bang Yongguk?" Jongup answered.

The hostess looked through the names and smiled politely.

"Yes, he's this way," the hostess told him.

The hostess led him through the restaurant until they walked towards the back. The table was a little bit secluded from the rest of the people in the restaurant. The restaurant was getting ready for Christmas, with small snowflakes dangling from the ceiling and the Christmas tree placed in the corner. It was very well decorated.

"Here we are," the hostess introduced.

He looked down and saw Yongguk wearing a rather nice suit. One that would make people drool all over him. The shirt was a little long, but it fit Yongguk snuggly. The first two buttons were undone, revealing a rather large chest tattoo that Jongup can't stop staring. His hair being slicked back may or may not helped his image in some way.

Jongup sat down across from Yongguk in the booth. His heart was beating a little loud, but he calmed himself down. This wasn't his first date in six years, of course not!

Okay, he was lying, but he had to.

The hostess already left the two alone in the booth. Jongup was starting to feel a bit intimidated.

"You look like a history professor," Yongguk commented.

"And you look way overdressed. You said dress casually," Jongup told him.

"Yeah, I did. The reservations I made before canceled on me, so this was my second option. I didn't have time to warn you," Yongguk explained.

Jongup said nothing. He needed to focus on this fake date if he was going to make it out of here.

"By the way, I ordered some wine. Hope that was okay," Yongguk told him.

As soon as he said that, a bottle of wine came out and was placed in a bucket of ice. Jongup realized that this place was way out of his price range.

"Yongguk, I can't afford any of this," Jongup hissed, holding the menu close to his chest.

"Relax. I'm paying. Now, how much alcohol intake do you prefer?" Yongguk asked.

"Wine makes me sleepy," Jongup explained.

"Well, that's too bad. I guess you have to eat something in order to not feel so sleepy," Yongguk said.

Jongup only rolled his eyes. This lasted for a few hours. The two began to talk about whatever topic they wanted. From food allergies, to a book they were reading, and to their childhood memories.

"I remembered being in the states and getting lost. I think I cried, too," Jongup said.

"I'm sorry, you cried?" Yongguk asked in disbelief.

"Well, can you blame me? I was a kid and I was in an unknown city. Wouldn't you?" Jongup asked.

Yongguk only shrugged his shoulders, apparently agreeing with him.

"My childhood memory, that I at least remember, is being asked by a girl to kiss her. I said no because I thought she was gross. She cried and ran to tell the teacher. I got in trouble for it," Yongguk said, reminiscing about the past.

"Why didn't you want to kiss her?" Jongup asked him.

Yongguk shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't know. I wasn't interested in her and I didn't want her to kiss me. She wasn't bad looking for a kid, I guess," Yongguk answered.

The two then veered off conversation by telling funny stories. Their laughter was rather loud because their waiter has told them a few times to be quiet. Jongup did as he was told.

After that, their food finally came. Jongup ordered a gnocchi soup because it looked damn delicious and he was starving for some new food. Yongguk, he guessed, ordered some sort of chicken parmesan.

"You know, the wedding is in a few weeks. Should we get matching ties like it's prom?" Yongguk asked jokingly.

"I don't know. I've never been to prom and I'm pretty sure that matching ties weren't a thing," Jongup commented.

"Neither did I, so we can make whatever rules we want," Yongguk said.

"Speaking of, Himchan's wedding got moved up to the thirteenth. Meaning we now have a few days to prepare," Jongup said.

"I heard. Himchan's parents are not pleased, but they believe that he's excited to get married, so they rushed the date. The place where they were going to get married accommodated their date," Yongguk explained.

Jongup needed to remember that he and Himchan are friends, and that Yongguk is going to be Himchan's best friend.

"So that wedding will be rather exciting," Jongup commented, taking a bite out of his dinner.

It was a lot better than he thought it would be. He wolfed down his food, until Yongguk finally stopped him. They two had a rather pleasant dinner, with light conversation and laughter.

All in all, it wasn't a bad date.

\-----

Yongguk walked Jongup all the way back to his apartment. It turned out that the apartment wasn't too far from the restaurant. Jongup was starting to get a bit chilly, especially with the snow sticking to the ground.

"So this is fun. We should keep doing small dinner dates. Make it seem more realistic," Yongguk said.

"But not too realistic. Remember, I'm paying you to be my fake date," Jongup pointed out.

He saw Yongguk rolling his eyes. The next thing he knew, Yongguk kissed his cheek lightly.

"Now, don't go blushing after that. We still need to practice kissing a little more. I don't want you giggling every time we try to kiss," Yongguk said.

Jongup numbly nodded his head. As soon as Yongguk walked away, Jongup rushed to get into his apartment. He didn't care that he missed his floor again, didn't care that the old couple were sending him curses and insults because they could, he didn't even care about the moans and the mattress squeaking when he came into the apartment.

His heart was singing, and he knew this was bad.


	9. December 9

The next morning, Jongup rolled out of bed and walked out of his bedroom. He didn't expect to see Himchan or Junhong, even though he did hear them through the rather thin walls. He walked towards the kitchen and began to make himself a bowl of cereal. He's way too lazy to cook himself some extravagant breakfast that he usually does, but he's too lazy to do anything.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," a familiar voice greeted.

He turned his head and saw Himchan walking up to him, smiling brightly.

"Fuck you and everything you stand on," Jongup muttered, concentrating on pouring the cereal into the bowl instead of onto the floor.

"Aw, did we disturb your beauty sleep?" Himchan asked.

Usually Himchan is sympathetic when he and Junhong have sex next door. Now he's being straight up cruel. He only does this when something good happens.

"What happened?" Jongup asked, placing the cereal back in the cabinets.

"What do you mean?" Himchan asked.

"Usually you're sympathetic for being loud during sex. Now you're practically glowing and being rather rude about it. Either you're not Himchan and, in fact, are a clone, or something good happened," Jongup explained.

Himchan only let out a hmphed in response. Junhong came out from the bedroom as well, already wearing his every day clothes.

"You didn't tell him, right?" Junhong asked.

"Not yet. Why don't you tell him? It's your announcement," Himchan said.

"It's our announcement. I just so happened to have done all the work," Junhong explained

"Oh god, you're pregnant, aren't you?" Jongup asked.

"Jesus, fuck no! But you're getting rather close," Junhong said.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows. He didn't really understand when Junhong was getting at, until he remembered a few weeks ago a bunch of paperwork across the living room table and couch, and the threats if Jongup even messed a little bit of it up. He asked Junhong about it once, and was met with a sarcastic answer.

"Gee, what does it look like I'm doing? Adopting a kid, of course!" Junhong replied.

Jongup though he was being sarcastic, but now...

"Holy shit, your adoption went through?" Jongup asked.

"Yep! Now all we need to do is prove we're actually married. It'll take a year, at least, but since Himchan and I are going to get married soon, we're looking at adoption papers soon. We're thinking of adopting a child between the ages of twelve and eighteen," Junhong explained.

"Why those ages? Usually people go with babies or toddlers," Jongup asked.

"We were discussing that, but we decided we'd much rather take care of one who's been in the system longer. It's only fair. Besides, the place we're buying together is going to be refurbished with Himchan's stuff, so we don't really see the point of adopting a baby or a toddler," Junhong explained.

Jongup thought that was fair. Give another child that's been in the system a lot longer than those who are going to be adopted right away.

"Well, congrats! I can't wait to see what type of child you're going to adopt," Jongup told them.

The two sat down as Jongup poured the milk into his cereal. He placed the milk back and walked towards the table that they were sitting at.

"So how was your date with Yongguk?" Junhong asked, his voice sounded like he was teasing him.

"Dinner was fine. A little underdressed, but it was good. We ate at an Italian restaurant and talked about ourselves. It was actually nice. I didn't know you were the mastermind of half of Yongguk's schemes. He said that he took the downfall for you a few times," Jongup said.

"We were kids. I once said we should light a piece of grass on fire and he did. I didn't say let's set the whole grass and a tree on fire," Himchan explained.

Jongup looked at Himchan liked he didn't really believe him.

"What else happened?" Junhong asked, interrupting their little conversation.

"And nothing. We decided to go on a few more fake dates until I feel comfortable around him. He also said we should keep practicing to kiss because the first time we kissed, I was giggling like mad," Jongup explained.

Himchan stared at him like his head was going to explode. It made him a little uncomfortable.

"The last time you giggled when someone was going to kiss you was Youngjae. Jongup, are you developing feelings for Yongguk?" Himchan asked him.

"What? No! I was nervous because I didn't really know him. We only met for, like, three days. We didn't really get to know one another besides talking about the plan for the wedding. Which reminds me, I heard that you guys moved your wedding date a little earlier," Jongup told them.

"Yeah. It was part of the plan. Sunhwa has her actual wedding date on the original date on New Year's. We want to get married early so that we could have the possibility of adopting a kid," Himchan said.

"Then doesn't that mean that you only have a few days to actually prepare your plan?" Jongup asked.

"Well, we've been planning this since April. We're just piggybacking Sunhwa's stuff and using it for our own," Himchan explained.

Jongup only nodded his head as he began to eat his cereal. Junhong and Himchan were talking with one another quietly, and Jongup felt like he was an outsider looking in on this relationship. Everything they were doing was something that he has always wanted. When he was going through the five stages of grief from the break up with Youngjae for six years, he thought that they were going to get back together and that they were going to have the same type of relationship as Himchan and Junhong.

Then he realized that he doesn't want that with Youngjae. When did he decide this? His always imagine his future relationship with Youngjae. He always thought that the end game was going to be with him. And now he's not so sure. He has been with other people in order to get his mind off Youngjae and to actually start dating people within those six years, but he always compared them to Youngjae. Always.

And now...

Now he's not so sure anymore.

"Jongup, you okay? You've been staring at your cereal for about five minutes and they turned soggy," Junhong said.

Jongup snapped out of his thoughts and looked down. His cereal has gone soggy, but it didn't really matter. He didn't feel hungry anymore.

"So what's the plan for the thirteenth? Is there going to be anything extravagant?" Jongup asked.

"Nah. It'll be like a regular wedding ceremony, except Junhong will be wearing his wedding dress instead of Sunhwa. As we checked the heights and Junhong is just a few inches taller than her," Himchan answered.

"This plan isn't going to work, but it'll be entertaining, I think," Jongup said.

He took his bowl and dumped it in the sink. He cleaned his bowl and placed it in the rack to dry.

"You're still acting as our priest, right? Because we don't have any other person to fill in your spot," Himchan questioned.

"I have my license and everything ready. I told you since you asked me; I will be your priest," Jongup told him.

Jongup walked out of the kitchen and walked towards his room to change. He's thankful that he doesn't have work today and he could laze around all day. As he finished changing into his lazy clothes, there was a knock on the door. Jongup was about to answer the door, until Himchan stopped him and opened the door himself.

"You don't pay rent here," Jongup pointed out.

Himchan merely waved him away as he opened the door. Outside was Yongguk, wearing his rather casual clothes and entered inside the apartment.

"Yongguk! You made it! Did you bring the movie?" Himchan asked.

What?

"Yes, Himchan. I also bought your favorite candy and other stuff to eat so that we could watch the movie," Yongguk told him.

Jongup made himself visible and saw Yongguk looking at him.

"Oh, I didn't know you lived here. Himchan told me that Junhong and a roommate lived here. He didn't go into specifics about it," Yongguk said.

"No, I didn't think he would. When it involves Junhong, he forgets me completely," Jongup said.

"Hey, that's not true!" Himchan defended, glaring at him.

"He's kind of telling the truth. Remember when we went to get something to eat and Jongup requested something to be brought back and you forgot?" Junhong asked, making himself comfortable on the couch.

"I remembered no such thing!" Himchan shouted.

"You also forgot to get me coffee yesterday when I asked," Jongup pointed out.

Himchan was about to open his mouth to argue, and then he closed his mouth. Jongup knew that he was right and Himchan is only pouting. He sat next to Junhong, who began to play with the older's hair.

"So what are we doing? I wasn't informed," Jongup asked.

"We're going to have a movie marathon! Yongguk brings the movies and snacks and we provide shelter," Junhong said.

"We usually have it at my place, but I forgot for the past couple of weeks, so we decided to have it here," Himchan said.

Jongup said nothing. He got comfortable on his spot on the couch. So much for a relaxing day on the couch doing nothing except for browsing on the internet.

"I got Pacific Rim, Iron Man, and Monty Python and the Holy Grail," Yongguk read off, placing each movie down.

"I chose Pacific Rim. I need to see robots fighting giant monsters," Jongup voted.

"Well, I want to watch Iron Man. I've been meaning to see it, but I never have the time," Junhong said.

"I need a good laugh. I'll chose Holy Grail," Himchan answered.

"You can't do that! You were supposed to be on my side," Junhong argued.

"I've seen Iron Man thousands of times, and so have you! You just fell asleep halfway through," Himchan explained.

"Yongguk, you will be our tie breaker. What shall we watch?" Jongup asked him.

Yongguk looked up at the three men on the couch, then at the movie choices that they were going to watch.

"I'll choose Pacific Rim. I haven't seen this movie yet," Yongguk said.

"You only chose Pacific Rim because Jongup picked it. I bet if he chose Holy Grail you would've picked it," Himchan said.

"That's cute. Except I have never seen Pacific Rim and I've been meaning to. Now excuse me," Yongguk said.

Jongup turned the television on and placed it on DVD. Yongguk popped the movie in and relaxed on the couch next to Jongup.

This was going to be a long two hours.

\-----

Jongup must have fell asleep during the movie, because the next thing he knew, he sees the jaegar taking a large ship and using it to bash the monster in the face. Jongup has seen this movie countless of times, so he knows what to expect. He didn't expect to fall asleep halfway through. He stretched his back and felt something warm against his back. He looked up and sees Yongguk, who is also sleeping.

Shit.

He looked over and saw Himchan and Junhong sleeping as well, curled up in a ball with one another. Jongup, ever so lightly, got off Yongguk and made his way to the other side of the couch.

If anybody asked, he would lie. He fell back to sleep and didn't wake up until the next day.


	10. December 10

When Jongup woke up, he rolled off the couch and, rather painfully, landed on the floor. He groaned from the pain and stood up. He sat back on the couch as best as he could and looked around the room. The television screen was turned off, and so was the DVD player. He looked over at the couch that Himchan and Junhong were sharing and saw that the couch was empty. He thinks that the two are either at Himchan's place, in Junhong's room, or they went somewhere to eat without warning them. Jongup then checked his cell phone to see what time it was. It was very well past noon. He looked over to his right and saw that he was not alone. Yongguk was still sleeping besides him.

And then he realized something rather important.

Yongguk came over his apartment. Something the two of them agreed to never do.

They broke one of their rules about this entire ordeal.

Sure, Yongguk didn't really know where Jongup lived, or that Junhong was his roommate, but they still broke a rule. He may argue that they broke the kissing rule, but it was mostly for practice and it didn't really count. It was starting to scare him, but he didn't understand why.

He felt Yongguk stirring awake and blearily blinking his eyes open. Jongup hated to admit it, but Yongguk looked rather adorable waking up.

"Mm. What time is it?" Yongguk slurred.

Jongup felt something inside him twitch when Yongguk's voice when an octave lower. He needed to calm down.

"About one o'clock. Himchan and Junhong probably went to get lunch," Jongup told him.

Yongguk groaned and attempted to roll over. However, like Jongup, he actually fell off the couch head first. Jongup busted out laughing at Yongguk's misfortune.

"That hurt, you know," Yongguk pointed out.

"I'm sure it did. That's why I'm laughing," Jongup told him.

Yongguk, like the five-year-old he is, stuck his tongue out in retaliation. He got up from the floor and sat back on the couch.

"Hey, you know how we set up some rules when we agreed to do this?" Jongup asked.

Yongguk nodded his head, and then realized where Jongup was going with this.

"Oh. Oh! Oh shit, we broke a rule, didn't we?" Yongguk asked.

"Just a bit. It won't mean anything, of course. It was inevitable anyway. You're Himchan's friend and he and Junhong are dating," Jongup said.

"So, you haven't been to my apartment yet. We still have a partial rule, I think," Yongguk said.

"Yeah, that's true. We still go that," Jongup said.

"And besides! We're still friends. Friends who just so happen to be fake dating one another because the one friend wanted to prove something to an ex," Yongguk pointed out.

"Hey, the other friend offered and has a business dedicated to this," Jongup pointed out as well.

"Anyway, I should get home. I have work soon and I need to get there before I'm considered late," Yongguk said.

Jongup watched as Yongguk collected himself ad began to leave the apartment. The apartment was rather quiet and eerie. Jongup hated it. He turned on the television and turned it to a music channel that Junhong accidentally bought and was too embarrassed to call them up and tell them.

After playing four different songs, Jongup heard the door opening. He turned off the television and saw Himchan and Junhong walking through, carrying different bags that Jongup is pretty sure they don't have the money for.

"Hey guys. Where did you go?" Jongup asked them.

"Junhong wanted to do some light shopping before the wedding. When he says light, he doesn't mean what he says," Himchan told him.

"I should know. I've been living with this fucker since before he met you," Jongup said.

"Oh please, you're just jealous," Junhong tells him.

"Oh yes, of course I am. So jealous," Jongup replied sarcastically.

"Which reminds me, Daehyun called and he wanted to talk to you," Himchan tells him.

"Why didn't he call me up and ask?" Jongup asked.

"I don't think he has your number," Himchan said.

Jongup realized that this is true. He probably has Himchan's number.

"So when does he want to meet?" Jongup asked.

"Today at two. Which means you have half an hour to get ready," Himchan answered.

Jongup groaned, but got up anyway to get changed.

\-----

Himchan told Jongup that they would meet at some restaurant that he doesn't know on the outskirts of town. He sees Daehyun enjoying the sun in the outside patio. After Jongup gives the hostess his name, he sat across from Daehyun, who looked oblivious from him.

"I love the sun sometimes. Especially in this type of weather. Sure, it's frigid as hell, but the sun still beats down its heat on us. The only thing I don't like about it is that I can't shed my clothes to let the sun kiss my skin," Daehyun said, rather dreamily.

Jongup raised an eyebrow. Daehyun opened his eyes and looked at him.

"I think you're confused on why you're here," Daehyun offered.

"Just a bit. Why did you want to see me?" Jongup asked.

"Well, I know that you and Youngjae dated at some point. I saw the look on your face when we were fitting our tuxedos. You're still in love with him," Daehyun said.

Jongup almost fell out of his chair. However, Daehyun continued.

"I met Youngjae during a rather hard time in my life. Youngjae and I were merely classmates at the time. Seniors in college, if I'm more specific. I called him up on accident and ranted to him. He didn't correct me or was even disgusted by me. He comforted me, in a strange way. And during that time, we became fast friends. Jaebum, the man you saw, didn't look pleased by this, but he was dating Youngjae at the time. Youngjae looked a bit unhappy with the relationship, so they broke up. Anyway, after the coffee shop incident, and after a few months of our ever-growing friendship, we dated. It started small, but the love we had grew. Sure, we had fights here and there, but we always came back to one another," Daehyun recalled.

After a tense minute, Jongup finally opened his mouth.

"Why are you telling me this?" Jongup asked.

"Because, somewhere deep inside me, I think Youngjae loves you, too. I don't know if it's as strong as you loving him, but I know he loved you at one point. Maybe seeing you stirred up old memories and feelings. I'm not telling you to stay away from him. That's pretty much impossible. I'm telling you this because if, for some reason you two still share some sort feelings f0r one another then I will happily step aside and let you two be together," Daehyun explained.

Jongup never knew what to make of him. At first, he thought he should hate him because he took Youngjae away from him. Some part of him wanted to hate him. Youngjae was his first love, along with many other firsts. He thought they were going to be together forever, and maybe marry after Jongup finished high school. But Youngjae made it clear when they broke up, and Jongup is starting to see why now. Jongup never really knew Youngjae like he was supposed to and he thinks that Youngjae never really knew him.

"I know that you may think this, but we were in high school. I was still clinging onto that hope that Youngjae would take me back and we would start our relationship where we left off, but that would never happen. We're two different people now. I may have loved him at some point, but I think I wanted what we had in high school and it's not fair for either of us. I would suggest you give Youngjae the relationship he deserves. I don't think he was happy with me, and he sure was never happy with Jaebum. I think he's happy when he's with you," Jongup tells him.

Daehyun smiled at him. One that looked like he was relieved. He didn't blame the man. If Daehyun had asked him a week ago or a few days ago, he would've taken up the chance to get back together with Youngjae. Now? He feels like the feelings are diminished. He still loves Youngjae, but not like he did when he was in high school. It felt like a nostalgic love.

"You know, I asked Youngjae this, too. He said that at one point, he did love you, but he doesn't think he was in love with you like you were. Then he realized that maybe it wasn't love. Maybe it was infatuation from a high schooler. When I look at you, I see the way you look at him like I look at him. Like he's my entire world," Daehyun said.

"Like he's the only one to make you happy," Jongup finished.

Daehyun smiled and had some far off look on his face.

"I hope you find that person, Jongup. Find someone who makes you happy," Daehyun said.

As soon as Daehyun said that, a tray of food appeared in front of him and Jongup. It looked rather delicious and it made Jongup's stomach growl.

"I hope you don't mind, but you didn't get here soon enough. I decided to order for the both of us. Is that okay?" Daehyun asked him.

Jongup only nodded his head as he began to devour his food. It tasted delicious and almost wept in joy, but kept it to himself.

The two ate their food in comfortable silence.

\-----

Jongup walked back to his apartment and opened the door. He looked around and saw that it was dark. He turned on the lights as he closed the door. He walked into the living room and jumped a little.

Yongguk was laying on his couch, wearing what Jongup could see was a negligee. If Jongup was lying to himself, he would say that he was not turned on by this. Not one bit.

Then again, he's lying to himself.

"I was waiting for you to get home," Yongguk tells him, standing up from the couch.

The negligee was black and see through, and Jongup could see the lacy thong that he was wearing and, okay he was getting super hard right now.

He feels Yongguk walked up to him and kissing his lips softly, and Jongup kissed him back as well. He moaned against Yongguk's mouth as the older was using his right hand to rub Jongup through the thick jeans.

"So, surprised yet?" Yongguk asked.

"Oh yeah. What's all this about?" Jongup asked him.

"What? Can't I please my boyfriend?" Yongguk asked.

Jongup didn't argue about that. He continued to kiss Yongguk and Jongup was running his hands to whatever bit of skin he could get his hands on. Yongguk broke this kiss and stared at him in the eyes.

"Jongup, you need to wake up," Yongguk tells him.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows. Why does he need to wake up?

He jolts himself awake when he felt himself being pushed off the bed. He looks up and sees Junhong by his bedside, clearly annoyed by being woken up.

"It's eleven. I need to sleep, too, you know," Junhong argued.

Jongup groaned and got up. He crawled back into bed as soon as Junhong leaves and falls back asleep.


	11. December 11

When Jongup woke up the next morning, he was still hard. He groaned and attempted to roll over, but his erection was making it very difficult. He needed a rather cold shower. He got up from his bed and waddled down the hall to his own bathroom. He stripped off his clothes and turned the water on. He set the temperature to cold and immediately got in. He shivered against the cold water, but he waited for his erection to go down so that he could take a hot shower.

The erection never went away. It was still standing. Jongup knew what he had to do, and he hoped that Junhong stepped out of the apartment for a bit.

He grabbed hold of his erection and pumped it rather slowly to get the feeling. He moaned softly against the touch. He teased himself a few times, earning a few whines escaping from his lips. He envisioned Yongguk kneeling in the bathroom, taking Jongup in whole. Jongup arched his back at this vision and couldn't stop. He went slow, and then quickly. He could feel something in his gut pooling. He knew he was going to come.

"Y-Yongguk," Jongup whined out.

And with a loud cry, Jongup came all over the shower. He panted heavily and unevenly. As his vision began to clear and his breathing began to even itself out, the cold water brought him back to reality. He couldn't believe what he had just done. Sure, he's masturbated in the shower before (and then cleaned it up because Junhong cleans the bathrooms when it comes to cleaning day on Thursdays), but this was a first time he envisioned someone to masturbate to.

He has thought of Yongguk at times before. Mostly to figure out what kind of guy he is, but this is something he can't be doing. Especially to something that is temporary. When the two depart, he doesn't know what's going to happen to them.

"Jongup, are you in there? I heard shouting," he heard Junhong ask, knocking on the bathroom door.

Shit.

"J-Just a minute! I'm almost done," Jongup tells him.

He hears Junhong sighing, but soon walks away. Jongup turns off the water and gets out. He dries himself off and puts on his new, fresh clothes. He steps out of the room and runs his fingers through his damp hair.

"Jongup, you okay? I heard a shout in the bathroom," Junhong asked him.

Jongup feels bad. Junhong looks rather concerned about his wellbeing. He can't really say out loud that he was masturbating in the shower.

"I masturbated in the shower," Jongup blurted out.

Oh, well, he could say that out loud.

"Well, I figured. I heard moaning in the shower. I thought you were taking a really good shower," Junhong said.

Jongup felt embarrassed. He thought Junhong was out of the apartment. What does he know?

"Anyway, Himchan texted me earlier. He said that the cake was not something that the three of us agreed to and the flowers are the wrong color. Pretty much this entire wedding is coming to a disaster," Junhong tells him.

"And you're wedding is in two days, right?" Jongup asked.

"Yep. Himchan said that we ordered a lemon cake, not a vanilla cake with raspberry filling. There's also something going on with the catering company and the venue itself. Wanna come down with me to the catering company? Himchan's got the venue covered," Junhong asked.

"Sure. I got nothing else going for me," Jongup said.

The two got dressed in their best clothes and made their way to the catering company.

\-----

The catering company that Junhong and Himchan hired served rather weird naming dishes. The Sunny Side of Life was pretty much a breakfast platter with two eggs and a piece of bacon that made it look like a smile.

"So who hired these people?" Jongup asked.

"Himchan. He liked the menu they had. We're mostly going for appetizers and then the main course, since the venue we picked didn't have a catering service. Dumb, I know, but we're on a budget," Junhong explained.

Jongup only nodded his head as he stared at the menu in question. He let Junhong do most of the talking while Jongup mostly ate some of the samples that they brought out.

At the end of the day, Junhong got everything sorted out. Jongup followed his friend and went to the bakery, since there's still issues with the cake.

"Shit, Himchan is calling me," Junhong said.

Jongup and Junhong continued walking as Junhong picked up Himchan's call. Jongup stared at the Christmas decorations around town. Which reminds him; Junhong and Jongup need to get a Christmas tree before the trees run out and they're stuck with some shitty ass tree.

"Himchan, we discussed this!" Pause. "No, the decorations are supposed to match our favorite colors." Pause. "What do you mean they don't have blue? Where did all the blue go?" Pause. "Well you can tell them they can stick the color orange up there-"

"Junhong, we're here," Jongup tells him.

"I gotta go, Himchan." Pause. "We're at the bakery. We're going to talk to them about the mix-up."

Junhong finally got off the phone as the two walked into the bakery. Jongup instantly smelled gingerbread cookies and snickerdoodles. He went in line to order, until Junhong dragged him towards the back where the baker was. The two walked in and saw the baker snapping his head at them.

"Ah, you must be Junhong. We're sorry we got the cake mixed up. We were doing a child's birthday cake and we must've gotten the order mixed up. We already made a brand new cake and we could like it if you and your guest here would taste to see if it's to your liking," the baker said.

Jongup liked this man. He was kind and honest. He looked like Santa and that made him trust the guy a bit.

"Yes, of course sir. I'm sorry my fiancé got angry. He has a bit of a temper, especially considering that we moved the wedding date a bit early," Junhong apologized.

"Bah! Your fiancé is not so bad. Believe me, I've had worse. Now come, sit! Enjoy your cake while I get this order going," the baker told him.

The two grabbed the sample cake and took a bit out of it. Jongup took a bite out of the cake and his taste buds instantly tasted lemon. He thought he died and gone to heaven.

"Holy shit, this is delicious," Junhong said.

"Isn't there a rule where the people getting married can't eat the cake?" Jongup asked.

"Yes, but Himchan and I don't care. We like food and Himchan said that if I ate the cake first, he won't care," Junhong said.

Jongup only nodded his head. He finished the cake rather quickly and gave his compliments to the baker. When Junhong went outside to make a quick phone call to Himchan, Jongup got in line and ordered a dozen snickerdoodle cookies for the rode and promised he'll return for the rest of the baked goods.

He's gonna spend all of his money on this bakery, he knows it.

\-----

When Junhong and Jongup made it to the venue where they were going to have not only the wedding, but also the after party, Jongup couldn't help but admire it a bit. The reception was gonna be outside in the garden. The garden looked rather gorgeous, especially when the snow painted the flowers like they were frozen.

"What do you mean we can't have the wedding outside?" he heard Junhong shout, snapping him out of his head.

Jongup looked up and saw Junhong looking rather angry at the owner, who only looked annoyed.

"Sir, it's snowing outside. There's no way you're going to have a wedding outside. Not in this weather, at least. It's too cold and you're going to freeze to death," the owner explained.

"Sir, with all due respect, we did agree to have the wedding outside, whether it was snowing or not," Himchan explained.

"Believe me, I'm saving you guys from an early death. Look, we already have the Christmas decorations inside to make it look even more festive. It's also a lot warmer so your guests won't complain about the cold," the owner told them.

Jongup walked back inside and saw that the decorations were rather festive. There's a large Christmas tree out in the middle of the entrance and a large wreath on the top of the door.

He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and decided to see who it was. He saw that it was Yongguk texting him.

"From: Yongguk

_Wanna meet up? I'm bored and work is suffocating._ "

Jongup let out a small smile. He bit his lip and calmed himself down. It's fine. It's just a crush, anyway. Once they get past that stage, Jongup will find his own true love once the New Year's hits.

"To: Yongguk

_Sure. I was helping Junhong and Himchan with wedding stuff, but I need to get out. They're strange._ "

Jongup saw Junhong arguing with the owner quite passionately. He walked up to Himchan, who seemed calmer of the two.

"Hey, I'm gonna meet up with Yongguk. You guys good here?" Jongup asked him.

Himchan sighed and began to massage his temples.

"Junhong is going to argue with this guy about the reception for two more hours until he finally agrees to have the wedding inside. I'm saving you from a headache. Go," Himchan urged.

Jongup took Himchan's word and began to leave. Himchan can give Junhong his own ride home.

\-----

Jongup arrived to the Night Coffee Shop and saw the lights glowing brightly. It was getting dark outside and the lights inside made it look like the stars in the night sky. He sat towards his usual spot and waited for Yongguk.

"You look mesmerized," Yongguk said, cutting Jongup out of his thoughts.

"I love the stars. It's fascinating how a giant ball of gas can produce so much light many light years away. We have constellations about them and people read our horoscopes based on the stars. And just looking around here makes me feel like I've stepped into another world. Don't you feel that?" Jongup explained.

Yongguk smiled fondly. Jongup felt a little embarrassed. He hardly every showed his rather geeky side to Yongguk.

"Anyway, I texted you to come over because we still need to discuss some of the rules. You're right, we did break one of the rules, so we need to make sure we don't break anymore," Yongguk explained.

"Well, I figured. I was thinking that we try to separate ourselves this time," Jongup said.

"Well, it might be tough since we are friends with Himchan and Junhong and they do movie nights every other night. They might drag you to my apartment. I was thinking that when we visit each other's apartment, it has to be with our friends and it has to be known ahead of time," Yongguk corrected.

"That's fair. Himchan and Junhong do like their movie nights. Why, I have no idea. It was a weird tradition," Jongup recounted.

"Well, we should put it behind us. I think after all of this, we should become friends. I think we can do friendship," Yongguk suggested.

"I would like to be friends with you. It's nice to talk to someone that isn't about Himchan or some weird skateboard that just came out. Junhong tires me out and Himchan is a weirdo," Jongup said.

"Yeah, well, he's my weirdo and I have to help him out whenever I can. But it is nice to converse about something that isn't about his fiancé or some new article of clothing I have no care about," Yongguk said.

The two shook hands as the coffee shop was coming to a close. The two exited out of the coffee shop and parted as friends.

Yet why did Jongup's heart race a bit?


	12. December 12

At work, his managers and the owner finally listened to Jongup (and many other people that work here) and actually got a Christmas tree.

A fake tree, but the staff was able to spray fake Christmas tree scent in order to make it smell like Christmas.

Jongup and Euijin helped (more like ordered) to pull the tree inside the store and placed it where the Christmas tree books were before. The tree was a lot taller than they thought. It almost reached the ceiling. It was Jongup and Euijin's job to actually decorate the tree. They grabbed some boxes that had either some Disney ornaments that were Christmas themed and some classic literature books. Jongup grabbed the Christmas lights and began to unroll them. He and Euijin began to decorate the tree with the pretty white Christmas lights.

"Holy shit, it looks so real," Yoonsun exclaimed.

The Christmas lights were finally strung around the tree. It took about six boxes in order to make the tree really light up against the bookstore that was already filled with magic.

"You wanna help?" Euijin asked her.

"Hell no! I'm already dealing with customers as it is. I'm good," she said.

Jongup knew that would be her answer. Jongup grabbed a couple of the classical literary books and began to start on the bottom. Euijin and he were rather small people, so the bottoms was the easiest. He and Euijin switched off ornaments when they go up a level, so that each side had different ornaments. When they began to reach a little higher, they began to bring in ladders in order to reach the taller part of the tree.

"I didn't know they finally got a tree," a familiar voice said.

That startled Jongup a little bit. He was on a ladder for Christ sakes, placing a Christmas themed Stitch somewhere towards the front so the kids could see him. He almost dropped the rather fragile ornament. He looked down and saw Yongguk holding some books in his hand and wearing a rather comfy coat. Jongup almost felt jealous of him because Jongup has a ratty ass sweater.

"Well, complaining about not having a proper tree finally pays off. We've been dealing with a book tree for the past few years," Jongup explained.

Which reminded him.

"What are you doing here, anyway? I have never seen you in here before," Jongup asked.

"I have. You're usually running around doing something. Sometimes we'll be in the same place, but you never seem to pay attention," Yongguk explained.

Jongup thought about it. He's usually in and out of the store and was busy making sure that the store still stood.

He attempted to make an argument that he should be manager, but then he remembered that he would be responsible for his co-workers and he's just like 'nope'.

"That's right. Is there a specific reason you're here now?" Jongup asked him.

"Came to pick up a book for my sister. She couldn't make it because she has a rather sick child to take care. It was nice seeing you again, though," Yongguk told him.

Yongguk walked away, with a book in hand and a messenger bag over his shoulders. As soon as Yongguk walked out, he heard Euijin squealing next to him, which made him a bit confused.

"What?" Jongup asked him.

"You were so totally flirting with Yongguk," Euijin told him.

"Yeah, those six seconds obviously made those sparks fly," Jongup said sarcastically.

"But seriously! You like him. A lot. I can tell by the look in your eyes. You want to kiss him and marry him and-"

"Euijin, that's enough. Now, hand me the Emily Dickinson ornament and let's get this finished. We have a long day ahead of us," Jongup ordered.

\-----

After work was done and over with, Junhong requested that Jongup pick up a new album that he placed on hold for him.

"Why can't you get it?" Jongup demanded, already on his way towards the music shop.

"You're really close to them and it's snowing right now. Besides, I'm at Himchan's place, which is, like, on the other side of town. I can't just walk around in the dark," Junhong explained, almost in a _duh_ sort of tone.

"Ugh, fine, but you owe me!" Jongup told him.

"Will do!"

And Junhong hung up first. Jongup groaned and continued to walk in the frozen snow until he finally spotted the music shop. The store was a bit crowded, which he was a bit surprised about. Usually he buys his music on the internet and be done with it. He's surprised that there's still people here willing enough to buy CDs.

What surprised him more was who was at the cashier desk, talking to a rather young couple. The couple walked away, clutching onto something as Yongguk waved them goodbye. Jongup walked up to the cashier desk and waited for Yongguk to notice.

"Oh, Jongup! Hey," Yongguk greeted.

"Hi. I'm here to pick something up for Junhong," Jongup explained.

"Oh right. Yeah, I have his CD around here somewhere. Hold on," Yongguk tells him.

Jongup waited patiently as Yongguk walked away to find the order that Junhong placed. He began to browse through the random CDs that were placed along the cashier's desk. Different classical CDs, and some classical rock CDs were placed in the front. Gift cards to different restaurants and to the store, some colorful pens and pencils were also on display that made it look rather cute and decorative.

"Here it is. He already paid for it," Yongguk explained.

"I don't understand why he doesn't pick it up himself. It's really not that hard. Just get Himchan to drive him," Jongup complained.

"Hey, at least you know where I work," Yongguk offered.

"That's true. What is this place? I'm surprised there's a lot of people in here," Jongup told him.

"Welcome to Music Haven. We have all the things for your music needs. An RnB person? We got your stack right in front. A fan of hip hop? No problem! We got some albums stacked towards the back of the shop. Whatever music you want we got it," Yongguk answered.

Jongup couldn't help but laugh at Yongguk's ridiculousness.

"You sound like you're rehearsing for a commercial," Jongup said.

"Well, I was going to, but they pulled the commercial when they found out that music was becoming digital now. I practiced those lines for the commercial, by the way," Yongguk explained.

"God, I would hate that. It sounds traumatizing," Jongup told him.

"Okay, drama queen. Tell Junhong to enjoy his album. I heard this one is his best yet," Yongguk said.

Jongup only nodded his head and began to make the journey home.

\-----

Jongup entered the apartment and dropped everything to the floor. He took off his shoes, placed Junhong's album on the kitchen counter, and then plopped himself onto the couch. He groaned in pleasure and wanted to fall asleep there.

"Jongup!" he heard Junhong call out.

He groaned in annoyance and looked up. He sees Junhong wearing his pajamas and looking rather annoyed and distressed.

"What?" Jongup asked.

"Come on! We should play some sort of games," Junhong urged.

Jongup groaned and batted his friend's hand away. He's way too tired to deal with him.

"What's wrong with you? I thought you were at Himchan's," Jongup asked.

"I was, but Hyosung demanded that I stay at my own apartment since it's bad luck to see the bride before the wedding," Junhong explained.

"Well, I'm exhausted and so are you. Tomorrow is a rather big day for you. Were you able to fix everything yesterday?" Jongup asked him.

"Yeah. Just a lot of wedding stress, I guess. I don't want to be away from Himchan, but I have to. Himchan agreed with Hyosung, you know, about me not seeing him until the wedding," Junhong said.

"Well, I think we should sleep. I've had a rather long day. I had to haul a fake Christmas tree inside the bookstore, place Christmas lights all around the damn fake tree, and then decorate the motherfucker. Euijin and I were arguing what should be placed on top of the tree. I got my way, of course, when we played rock, paper, scissors. I won. We placed an angel on top with a really creepy doll face, since no one is going to notice," Jongup explained.

"Oh, and I see that you got my CD," Junhong said, rather excitedly.

"Yup. Did you know Yongguk worked there?" Jongup asked him.

"I had an idea, but I didn't really know," Junhong said.

Jongup only shrugged his shoulders. He got up from the couch and headed to his room to sleep. He earned a lot of protest from Junhong, but he ignored him and flopped down on the bed and went to sleep.


	13. December 13

Jongup woke up to Junhong jumping on his back. He groaned and tried to burrow himself into the bed.

"Wake up! Today is the day!" Junhong shouted.

Jongup pushed him off his bed. He heard a loud _thud_ and a whine of pain.

"Come on! You got to help me get ready!" Junhong whined.

Jongup groaned, but finally agreed. He got up from his bed and put on a gray long sleeved shirt. He looked out the window and saw that snow was starting to fall from the sky. The ground was covered in slick snow, but it was starting to gray because of the street.

"What do you need help with?" Jongup asked.

"I need a confidence boost. I need you to tell me that I'm doing great or compliment me on my make-up or to tell me that I'm doing the right thing. I need validation," Junhong explained.

Jongup said nothing as he began to follow Junhong out of the room. He didn't mind helping his friend. Not at all. Sometimes, though, Junhong is a little Too Much. Junhong walked into his room as Jongup sat back down on the couch. He came out with his dress, his wig, a few make-up bags, and tape.

"What's with the tape?" Jongup asked.

"I'm debating on whether or not I should tuck," Junhong explained.

"I wouldn't. You're wearing a dress that's long and floofy. No one is going to question whether or not you have a dick," Jongup told him.

"You're right. I don't need to shave, either," Junhong said.

Jongup saw a razor next to the make-up bag and knew that he was debating on that, too. He's thankful that Junhong is opting out on these rather strange ideas.

"How long and thick is the veil?" Jongup asked.

Junhong grabbed the veil and placed it over his head. The veil was past his chest and he could barely see Junhong's face. That could work.

"So when is the wedding?" Jongup asked.

"Six hours," Junhong answered as he began to apply his make-up.

Jongup hummed a little as he grabbed a book and began to read as Junhong continued to put on his make-up. This was what Junhong is great at. He's great at doing his own make-up.

On other people, not so much.

Jongup would know. He has photographic evidence when Junhong tried to do Jongup's make-up one time.

"How long will this take?" Jongup asked.

"Depends on the precision. An hour? Maybe two? I need to put on the wig and try to style it. Sunhwa said not to worry too much about it, since my hair is not meant to be styled, but it got me worried," Junhong answered.

"Why don't you ask Hyosung? She's usually good at doing hair," Jongup asked.

"Hyosung is busy right now. She's the maid of honor, remember. I don't want to stress her out more than she needs to be. Besides, I know someone else who is good at hair," Junhong said.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows, until he realized that Junhong is talking about him.

"Oh come on! I took beauty school for one year and I quit because the people working there were too demanding," Jongup whined.

"That may be true, but you still know how to do hair. I saw you doing Sunhwa's hair when she asked you to do her hair," Junhong pointed out.

Jongup groaned, but knew that he had to. It was his friend and he knew his friend needed his help. How could he deny him?

"Alright, fine. I'll work on the wig for now so that you have something to put on," Jongup told him as he grabbed the dark brown hair.

Jongup began to work on the wig as Junhong declared that he finished his make-up.

"That's great, but I still need to finish. Shouldn't we be at the church by now?" Jongup asked.

"Shit, you're right! I'll put on the dress and shoes when we get there. The guests won't arrive until later, so we got time for use to sneak in," Junhong said.

"I don't understand why you didn't put your make-up on at the church," Jongup said, grabbing his bag filled with his clothes and other necessary things to officiate their marriage. He's licensed and everything, since he was part of a church group and registered online.

"Stuff the wig in the bag will you? I'll bring the dress and say that it's Sunhwa's dress until we get inside the dressing room," Junhong ordered.

"Sir, yes sir," Jongup replied sarcastically, but stuffed the wig into his bag. There was still room, which he's a little bit surprised about.

The two left the apartment and got into Junhong's car, with Jongup driving. He never could afford a car, and Junhong got his license taken away because he kept running through red lights and the police got tired of it. He doesn't understand why Junhong doesn't give Jongup his car, but Jongup remembered how much he actually liked taking the bus, so he shook the thoughts from his head.

They got in the car and made their way towards the church.

\-----

Jongup and Junhong arrived to the girls' dressing room and plopped down on the sofas. Junhong's make-up was melting a little, but he quickly got his make-up bag out and began to retouch his make-up. Jongup grabbed the bag with his dress and placed it on the wall. He grabbed the wig again and set it on one of the mannequin heads so that he'll get a better understanding of how the head will accompany the wig.

"There you two are! We were worried that you two will arrive late," Hyosung hissed, staring at the two.

"We forgot, to be honest. But! I still got here three hours early before anybody could file in. Besides, even if people saw us, they will think that I was taking Sunhwa's dress to her," Junhong pointed out.

Hyosung puffed her cheeks in annoyance. Jongup didn't blame her. She has to deal with having Junhong as a bride instead of Sunhwa, who was dressed in her pretty pink dress and is already in the crowd with her own fiancé.

"And what are you doing?" Hyosung asked Jongup.

"Moral support and hair braiding. Junhong wants the hair to have some sort of style," Jongup answered.

It took about an hour to find a hairstyle that Junhong would actually like (which wasn't hard, since Junhong liked all of them). Jongup placed the wig over Junhong's head and made sure that the hair fit his face.

"Holy shit, you actually look like a girl," Hyosung stated.

Junhong only smiled sweetly and did a pose that made him look cute. He did a peace sign between his left eye and winked.

"Now, as tradition, we must do the whole 'something old, something new' thing. Do you have something old?" Hyosung asked.

"I found this old necklace in my room. It was part of my drag days, so I think this works," Junhong said.

The necklace was simple, really. It had a music note with a rather thin chain to go around Junhong's neck. Jongup helped Junhong put the necklace around his neck.

"Alright. What about something new?" Hyosung listed off.

"Um... my earrings. Jongup bought me some yesterday because he knew that this was going to happen. They were cheap, so they weren't that expensive," Junhong answered.

The earrings didn't look cheap, but they were small. They dangled about an inch from his earlobe, but it still looked nice.

"Something borrowed?" Hyosung asked.

"I lent him one of my bracelets. It's not really feminine, but it works with Junhong's wrists," Jongup answered.

The bracelet was a bit thicker than a woman's usual bracelet, but the bracelet fit Junhong like a glove.

"And then something blue?" Hyosung finished off.

"See, that one was hard to find because neither of us has something blue. So...?" Junhong requested.

"You're lucky we have a few extra left," Hyosung bitterly said.

The 'something blue' was a butterfly pin that rested on the bun of Junhong's wig hair. It looked rather cute, if Jongup was being honest.

"Now, we got two hours left. I want him to get ready and I want you to get your priest gear ready. I want this wedding to be over with," Hyosung ordered.

Jongup saluted lazily as she walked out of the room. Jongup grabbed his bag and began to get ready himself. He put on his best suit and placed a small bible in his jacket pocket to make it look somewhat professional.

"Alright, we just need you in a dress and your veil," Jongup said.

He turned around and saw Junhong staring at himself in the mirror. Jongup was beginning to feel a bit worried.

"I don't know if I can go through with this," Junhong muttered.

"Goddamnit, I was hoping that you wouldn't get cold feet. Listen, you love Himchan. And Himchan loves you. So much. Believe me, I hear it every night that Himchan sleeps over. You two made this plan together. And we're going to see one hell of a wedding that hardly anybody is going to forget. Now put on the dress, the kitten heels, and the veil so we can get this wedding on the road," Jongup ordered.

Junhong stood up and smiled. He looked like he was about to cry. He hugged his best friend tightly.

"No wonder we're best friends. We never let one another down," Junhong whispered.

"We'll always be friends. It sucks that I can't be your best man, but I guess this will do," Jongup said.

Junhong only nodded his head. He grabbed the dress, pulled the bag of the zipper down and revealed the dress. The dress looked gorgeous. The bust was smaller and the length of the dress was a lot longer than Jongup remembered. Junhong changed out of his clothes down to his underwear and crawled into the wedding gown. Jongup helped Junhong pull the zipper up and Junhong looked at himself and almost burst into tears.

"I have my make-up on and I'm not about to ruin it. God, I feel like I'm back in my second skin again," Junhong muttered, looking down at the dress.

The dress fit Junhong like a doll, to be honest. The dress hugged Junhong's nonexistent curves, but it still made Junhong look like an actual woman. Junhong got out the kitten heels and put them on. The shoes didn't make up that much difference in height for Junhong, but it made him just slightly taller. If anybody asked, Sunhwa would be wearing those ridiculous heels that girls, for some reason, wore to make themselves feel tall. And Sunhwa was no exception.

"Guys, we got thirty minutes. How are we doing on time?" Hyosung asked them.

"Almost done. We just need the veil," Jongup said.

Jongup looked around in his bag, and then in Junhong's bag. And then in the bag where the dress was. The veil was nowhere to be seen.

"We, um... we may have a problem," Jongup said hesitantly.

"What?" Hyosung asked hesitantly, possibly already knowing where this was going.

"I think we left the veil in our apartment," Jongup said.

Junhong looked confused, and then had a moment of realization.

"Shit. We left the veil on top of the coffee table! I thought the veil was in the bag," Junhong said.

"Well, Himchan hasn't arrived yet. He said that he accidentally overslept and he's just now leaving his house. He can go get it," Hyosung offered.

"Himchan lives in the opposite direction of us. There's no way he's going to backtrack," Junhong explained.

"He will once we tell him what we're missing. I'm calling him now," Hyosung said.

About an hour later, Himchan bursts into the dressing room, but shields his eyes quickly so that he wouldn't see Junhong.

"I got the veil. You guys weren't specific on which table it was. I had to flip over a lot of tables," Himchan said.

Himchan gave Hyosung the veil and quickly left the room. Hyosung sighed in relief and began to place the veil on top of Junhong's head. The veil looked rather nice. It covered pretty much all of Junhong's face.

"Okay, we're a half hour late, but we can still make it. Now come on!" Hyosung ordered, ushering the two out of the room.

Jongup quickly walked through the hall where Sunhwa's and Himchan's family were sitting. He easily spotted Sunhwa, who was wearing a white face mask to cover the bottom of her face and wearing some strange colored wig. Jongup made his way towards the back of the church and opened up a bible. Really, it was a book of words that would help him get through this thing.

Soon, music began to play. One by one, Himchan and Sunhwa's bridesmaids and groom came out of the back together. Hyosung and Yongguk linked arms and walked down the aisle. He heard many people comment that they would make an excellent couple. Jongup didn't know why, but he felt a surge of jealousy and anger, but he quickly defused that bomb.

Himchan walked through the aisle and Jongup got a really good look at him. He actually didn't look that bad in his suit. He looked rather handsome, with his hair slicked back and his suit fitting him like a glove.

And then, the wedding march began to play.

Out came Sunhwa, who was actually Junhong. Junhong was holding a bouquet of red roses while marching down the aisle. Jongup could tell that Junhong was struggling a little bit in the kitten heels that he was wearing, but soon got used to them and began to walk in stride. Junhong stopped just before the aisle and Himchan carefully helped Junhong up the steps. The music stopped and everybody sat back down in their seats.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to join these two souls in matrimony," Jongup announced.

Most of it was from memory. Others was from the internet. He didn't like what some of the priests used when they were ordaining the wedding, so he began to use his own words. The time began to pass slowly, but Jongup continued to keep it up. He could see the love Himchan has when he was looking at Junhong. Even though the veil was thick, Junhong looked like he was shyly looking away.

"Please present the rings," Jongup ordered.

The ring bearer, who was Himchan's nephew, held the rings out in front of Jongup on a satin pillow. Himchan and Junhong both grabbed the rings and gave Hyosung his bouquet of red roses.

"Himchan, please repeat after me: With this ring, I will love you for eternity and beyond. In sickness and in health, until death departs us," Jongup ordered.

Himchan repeated what Jongup told him. Jongup could see Himchan smiling brightly and looking so in love with him.

"Sunhwa, repeat after me: With this ring, I will love you for eternity and beyond. In sickness and in health, until death departs us," Jongup said.

This part was a bit difficult. They recorded Sunhwa repeating these words and Junhong only had to mouth them in order for the veil to move. Hyosung quickly pressed the button and Sunhwa's voice repeated Jongup's words throughout the rather tense chapel. Junhong placed the ring on Himchan's finger and held his hand.

"By the power invested in me by this church and whatever website I found my ministry license at, I now pronounce you married. You may now kiss," Jongup said.

Himchan lifted Junhong's veil slowly. Everybody gasped, many shouted in outrage when they saw that the bride was not, in fact, Sunhwa. Himchan kissed Junhong with so much love and passion, and Junhong kissed him just the same. Jongup had to step back when Himchan dipped Junhong on the kiss. He mostly stared at the shock and startled faces. Jongup knew that this was going to be the reaction, and he's so glad that Hyosung and Yongguk are filming the entire thing.

"Well, my job is done. See ya," Jongup told everybody.

Himchan and Junhong broke the kiss and walked down the aisle, with the bridesmaids and groomsmen followed right behind them. Jongup quickly followed behind them before the guests would grab Jongup and demand that they explain just what happened.

Everybody was too shocked by what just happened.

The wedding reception was going to be great.

\-----

Jongup's prediction was correct.

When Junhong and Himchan entered the reception hall, with Junhong still wearing his wedding dress, but took off his wig, everybody demanded to know what the hell they were thinking. It was mostly Himchan and Sunhwa's family. Sunhwa finally revealed herself and her parents were scolding her, too. They soon explained that they didn't love one another and wanted to marry who they wanted. Jongup tuned out of their conversation and pretty much drank whatever drink he could get the bartender to create.

"I see you decided to browse through the great collection of alcohol," a familiar voice said.

Jongup looked up and saw Yongguk. Yongguk sat down next to him and ordered straight up vodka. Jongup crinkled his nose.

"I don't want to be anywhere near the drama. I knew it was going to happen, but you have to admit that it was entertaining. I can't believe they didn't realize that Sunhwa was actually Junhong. I mean, the heights were completely off and Junhong had a lot more muscle than her," Jongup pointed out.

"Well, most people won't know what they see behind the mask. I heard people whispering to their neighbors why Sunhwa looked rather manly," Yongguk said.

"God, this wedding was so weird. I want you to post this on Youtube and see the news outlet getting wind of this," Jongup ordered.

"Yes sir, Mr. Priest," Yongguk said sarcastically, saluting him.

"Oh please. I'm just someone who ordains marriages. I could ordain yours for all I care," Jongup said.

Yongguk smiled fondly, taking a sip of his own drink.

"I'll hold on to you for that," Yongguk told him.

Jongup smiled fondly. He didn't really remember much of what happened. He just remembered getting shitfaced drunk, hands running down his body, and the music playing loud. He remembered kisses and hands and a hotel room. And then he remembered closing the hotel room door behind him and taking off his jacket, lips connecting with one another.

Yongguk's face was the last thing he saw before he blacked out.


	14. December 14

Jongup woke up to some rather soft sheets. He rolled over and blinked his eyes open. He saw that it was past twelve in the afternoon and groaned. He has a rather painful headache and his head was throbbing violently. He sat up and set his body aching and his eyes feel completely exhausted.

"Afternoon," a familiar voice greeted.

Jongup snapped his head up and saw Yongguk with a mug of coffee in one hand and a piece of bread in the other. He looked down and saw that he was shirtless, but he still had his dress pants on. Why...?

"Did we do anything?" Jongup asked.

"What? Like making out with me to death? We almost did, but you passed out," Yongguk answered.

Jongup sighed in relief, but he did remember kissing someone. He realized that it was Yongguk that he was kissing before he slammed the door to Yongguk's hotel room. The room looked really nice and everything looked expensive. Then again, Himchan did rent out the entire floor of the nicer part of the hotel and it was worth it.

"So, we broke another rule?" Jongup asked.

"Technically speaking. We almost broke two rules, but thankfully that never happened. I don't want us to be awkward when we decide to be friends with Youngjae and Daehyun's wedding is over," Yongguk said.

"That is true. I'm not really good at facing difficult situations. At least we kissed and that won't be that awkward," Jongup offered.

Yongguk hummed in agreement and took a sip of his coffee.

"Did you make any more? I need some," Jongup asked.

Yongguk offered another mug of coffee and some painkillers. Jongup took the painkillers and dried swallowed the pills. He took the mug of coffee and began to take a sip. The coffee was warm and it made his soul feel warm and happy.

"I suggest you get dressed right now. Himchan and Junhong wants to meet with everybody around two," Yongguk suggested.

"I still have time," Jongup said.

"It's not at the hotel. It's at a weird restaurant downtown and it'll take at least an hour or two. So get changed," Yongguk explained.

Jongup got up from the bed and made it out of Yongguk's hotel room. He walked down to his own room and walked in to take a shower and get dressed.

\-----

Jongup walked into the rather fancy restaurant with different name cards on it. Jongup found his immediately He sat next to Junhong's name card and looked around. He saw Junhong's parents and Himchan's parents and saw Sunhwa's parents' names as well. Jongup knew that this dinner is gonna be a shit show, and he's excited to watch.

"Oh, you're here early," Yongguk said.

Himchan and Junhong were already settling themselves into their seats. Their wedding bands glistened from the soft lighting that the restaurant gave. Yongguk was dressed in his rather casual clothing and it looked good on him.

Jongup immediately shook the thoughts from his head.

"Well, I didn't want to get stuck in traffic. Plus, I know the neighborhood pretty well, so I knew what streets to take to avoid the traffic. Using Junhong's car actually made it a lot easier," Jongup explained.

"Well you're lucky. I guess the other people are stuck in traffic and it would take a while for them to get here," Yongguk said.

Yongguk greeted Himchan like old friends and hugged each other. Himchan was let go soon enough and let out a breath of air, like the hug hurt him in some way.

"Oh stop it. It was just a hug," Yongguk told him.

"That was a bone crushing hug and you need to watch your strength at times," Himchan argued.

Yongguk only laughed. As he began to go back to his place at the table, Himchan's parents and Junhong's parents finally arrived, glaring at the two boys in front of them. To be honest, Jongup was surprised that Junhong even invited his own parents to the wedding. His mother, maybe, because she loves things that have a theatrical revelation. It's his dad that frightens him a bit. Himchan's parents are a different story. They grew up with old money and Himchan didn't really want their help when he decided to start his business in the fashion industry. His parents were proud of him when he earned his inheritance by himself, but they felt that he needed a bride.

Which was where Sunhwa comes in.

Jongup remembered introducing Junhong to Himchan. He and Himchan were partners for some project that he couldn't remember and the two hit it off instantly. It was when Himchan graduated college did he notice a change in Junhong. He didn't realize it until he was a senior in college and caught the two half naked on Jongup's bed.

(He then burned the sheets because why?)

Jongup watched as the two parents began to argue with their children in what they did. Sunhwa's parents soon came in, dragging Sunhwa behind them and her fiancé trailing behind a few feet away from them.

"I demand these two get a divorce and then Himchan marry our daughter," Sunhwa's mother ordered.

"Ma!" Sunhwa shouted.

Jongup stared at the group with interest.

"I don't love your daughter, ma'am, and frankly she doesn't love me either. It's either we marry and I have an affair with the man I love, or we keep what we have now and save the heartache," Himchan explained.

Then the arguments started. There was so much arguing and shouting that Jongup couldn't keep up. Junhong and Himchan argued intensely on why this was good for them, while Sunhwa chimed in on why she didn't want to marry Himchan.

"I feel like I'm watching a really bad k-drama," Yongguk commented.

"Yeah. It was entertaining at first, and now it's just embarrassing. No wonder Himchan rented out the entire restaurant," Jongup said.

The entire restaurant was empty, except for some waiters and waitresses, looking rather nervous on serving their table.

"I have the urge to just order now so that we can finally be civilized," Yongguk stated.

"That won't happen, but I am hungry and it's getting close to dinner time," Jongup said.

He asked Junhong and Himchan what they wanted to order, which broke the fighting easily. Now the arguments were focused on him.

"Did you know they were going to do this?" Junhong's father demanded.

"Well-"

"And how could you marry these two? We're now an embarrassment in South Korea. Who even uploaded the video on YouTube?" Sunhwa's father asked.

"Well, that was-"

"I want you to reverse the marriage. Can't you divorce them?" Himchan's mother asked.

"See, I can't do that because I only officiate weddings. Divorce is a different story. Besides, aren't you guys acting a little childish? Just because they won't produce an 'heir' or whatever it is you want, you have other kids, too. They can produce an heir for you anyway. And either way, what's wrong with adopting? I'm sure that there are legal ways of adopting a child," Jongup argued.

The parents were finally silent.

"Now sit your ass down and start ordering. Yongguk is calling the waiters and waitresses over to help order our dinner," Jongup ordered.

They all did as Jongup told them to do. They sat down and began to order their food. Dinner was rather awkward, since no one wanted to say anything in case something was going to blow up.

Not a bad dinner, really.

\-----

Back at the hotel, he began to check out and run his fingers through his hair. Today was long and Jongup couldn't wait to get home and sleep in his actual bed. He saw Junhong fussing with Himchan's hair and outfit, who only laughed and tried to stop him from touching his hair and murmured something about a honeymoon.

Jongup didn't want to know.

Jongup finished checking out and began to roll his suitcase towards Junhong's car. He asked Junhong if he could keep the car, to which he replied 'fuck no'.

So he is now a somewhat owner of a rather used car.

He placed his suitcase in the trunk of the car when Yongguk stepped out. He pulled out his cell phone and began to press something on it.

"Hey, you need a ride?" Jongup asked him.

Yongguk looked up from his phone and smiled sheepishly.

"If you don't mind. Himchan drove me here and I don't have a license," Yongguk confessed.

Jongup opened the trunk of the car and placed Yongguk's suitcase inside. He closed the trunk and the two made their way inside the car. Jongup stared the car and drove to Yongguk's apartment.

\-----

When Jongup dropped Yongguk off at his apartment, he noted that it looked rather nice. It was a gorgeous townhouse that he knows fits a few people and it's a tightknit community.

"Well, thanks for the ride. I'm not inviting you inside because that could break one of our rules," Yongguk said.

"No worries. I'll see you tomorrow?" Jongup asked.

"Sure. We still need to practice kissing, you know," Yongguk told him.

Yongguk got out of the car, got his suitcase, and made his way inside. Jongup turned the car back on and began to make his way towards home.


	15. December 15

For Jongup, it gets really awkward when he decides to buy a Christmas tree by himself. It's ten days until Christmas and he still hasn't exactly bought himself a Christmas tree. He was debating on buying the full grown lush of a tree to place in his apartment and decorate with care. That's usually the ones that he and Junhong usually buy.

But, since Junhong has decided to move out of the apartment and now lives in a rather fancy house that he never saw, he's contemplating on buying the lush tree or one of the smaller trees and use tiny lights and decorations with.

He went with the tiny tree.

It was a lot cheaper than the full grown Christmas trees, so it didn't really hurt his wallet too much.

"Jongup?" A familiar voice called out.

Jongup turned his head and saw Youngjae, with Daehyun trailing right behind him. He remembered his conversation with Daehyun not too long ago. Youngjae still made his heart flutter, but he didn't take his breath away like when he did back in high school. Or the small occasions he still saw him.

"Oh, hey! I didn't expect to see you guys," Jongup said.

"We were in the neighborhood and spotted this place selling Christmas trees. We know we won't be staying for long, but we wanted our house to at least feel a bit festive," Daehyun explained.

"I love the smell of Christmas trees. It reminds me of my childhood a bit," Youngjae said.

Jongup didn't really have a lot of childhood memories that were happy. Most of them were his dad getting drunk and getting too physical with him and his brothers. He still has the burn mark on his lower back from when his dad was too drunk and thought branding his sons made them his.

Christmas, especially, was a trouble holiday for him. He remembered his mom, although kind as she is and always thought of her sons, telling him and his brothers to cover their ears when she brought strange men home just before the holidays.

"What tree are you guys thinking of getting?" Jongup asked.

"There's more than one?" Daehyun surprisingly asked. Jongup doesn't know if the guy was serious or he just doesn't know.

"Daehyun was deprived of getting a Christmas tree with the family, so he doesn't really know. Come along, Daehyun. We need a full tree in order to impress people," Youngjae told him.

He remembered when he was in high school and told Youngjae, in confidence, that he never really celebrated Christmas before. The holiday didn't really exist in his household. It mostly consisted of a sad, dead tree in his backyard and junk laying around. Youngjae then told the whole school and got Jongup to celebrate Christmas and when he didn't want to, they all called him either a Grinch or a Scrooge.

He never told Youngjae what was going on at home.

It was Youngjae's fault, really. He thought Youngjae would be able to keep a secret and not tell anybody. He still loved the older, despite all the faults he had. He even began to accept Youngjae's faults. Now, he feels a little at ease.

"Next," the cashier called out.

Jongup stepped forward and began to pay for his small Christmas tree.

\-----

Jongup decorated the small tree as best as he could. The small lights looked like snowflakes and the small ornaments were ornaments he found at the store that seemed to fit perfectly. He turned on the lights and saw the glow the lights gave. He heard someone knocking on his door and he furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting company. He walked towards the door and opened it, surprised to see Yongguk standing by the door.

"Hey," Yongguk greeted.

Jongup felt his heart swell.

"Greetings. May I ask what you're doing here?" Jongup asked.

"I needed a place to crash. My apartment has termites and I don't know when they'll get that fixed. Knowing my landlord, he'll ignore it and then they will proceed to destroy the place and build a brand new apartment building," Yongguk explained.

"You know this is breaking one of our rules, right?" Jongup said, letting Yongguk in.

"Not really. It's one bro letting in another bro into his home. I'm only staying until I can find an apartment for my own," Yongguk explained.

"I'm sure that's it. You can use Junhong's room for the time being. He already collected about half of his stuff. He left the bed and the sheets behind, so it's a bit bare," Jongup said, guiding him towards Junhong's old room.

Yongguk opened the door and saw that it was completely bare. The posters and pictures that were once decorated along the wall were taken down and placed in a box. The dirty laundry and the rug were completely gone, too, and now it was just carpeted floor.

"It'll do for now. I'll start looking for places to live with my price range. The place was getting expensive anyway. My landlord believes that rich people will live there," Yongguk accepted, smiling softly.

"It's too bad I never got to see the inside. I bet it would've been nice," Jongup said.

"It's not that grand. It looks like it belonged to an American sitcom back in the 70's. I couldn't do much with it unless I paid some fee for it," Yongguk answered.

Jongup left Yongguk alone and went back to fixing the small Christmas tree he was able to afford. He placed a little bit of the decorations on the wall and the floor to at least make it look festive.

"Oh, you bought a tree?" Yongguk asked.

"Yeah. I didn't want to buy a huge tree. I was gonna be by myself for Christmas this year, anyway," Jongup answered.

"You're not celebrating Christmas with your family?"

"My mom never really celebrated Christmas and my dad's version of a traditional Christmas is dressing up as Santa while being passed out drunk with some hooker in each arm. Not really memorable, to be honest. So my brothers and I never really celebrated it that much," Jongup explained.

"That sounds a bit sad. So you and Junhong... don't celebrate it?" Yongguk asked, hesitant on how to go about and asking such a delicate question.

"I mean, I do with Junhong, but that's because he drags my sleeping ass down to the Christmas tree lot and actually gets a tree for us. I just go along with it. After the years of being friends with Junhong and being forced to celebrate Christmas, it gets entertaining and magical, in a weird sense," Jongup explained. "What about you? Do you celebrate Christmas?"

"When I was younger. I never had the time. I'm usually being someone's fake date at some family holiday. Thankfully, I have you booked until the holiday itself so I get to celebrate it properly," Yongguk answered.

"Well, now you get to be my fake date for a Christmas wedding. How does that sound?" Jongup asked.

"To be honest, I like it. I've never been to a Christmas wedding, so I'm excited to see how that plays out," Yongguk said.

Jongup knew that Yongguk wanted to ask about something.

"Go ahead and ask. I know you want to know about Youngjae and I," Jongup requested.

"Please. How did you two meet? How did you start dating? Why did you two break up?" Yongguk asked.

"Well, we met in high school. He was a sophomore when I was an incoming freshman. He had to be our group's sad excuse of a tour guide because our school believes we'll get lost. Anyway, Junhong and I became fast friends with him. When I was a sophomore, I confessed my feelings to him by asking him out to prom. We kissed at the school's gymnasium. We dated until Youngjae went to college. I was a senior in high school and a lot of people were telling me I wasn't being fair to Youngjae, since he might want to hook up with other people, but he can't because he has some anchor holding him back," Jongup reminisced.

He remembered that vividly. He remembered a lot of his classmates saying that he was a horrible person for crippling Youngjae into enjoying the college life. That it should be a college freshman's dream to be able to hook up with different people and experiment with other people. Not be tied down to some high schooler.

"That sounds horrible. What did you do?" Yongguk asked.

"I ignored them. I thought Youngjae and I loved each other enough that we can get past all of that. I would visit Youngjae at his college campus and Youngjae will visit me whenever we got the chance. We texted and emailed each other in order to keep the other company. When I graduated, Youngjae decided to give me a talk after the ceremony ended," Jongup said.

"Wait, wait, wait, he broke up with you at your graduation ceremony?" Yongguk asked.

"Pretty fucked up, right? I have nightmares about that. I hate looking at my graduation pictures because all I can think of is the day that Youngjae ripped my heart out and stomped it. I mean, I don't think he meant it to be vicious or anything. He just told me that, since we were going to different colleges we should see other people. Experiment with other people so that we can get familiar with sex and stuff or some bullshit. I don't know. I begged and pleaded with Youngjae to stay with me, that we could make it work. Of course, that didn't happen because look where we are." Jongup then gestured to the entire apartment where Yongguk and Jongup are standing.

"But that's so heartbreaking. What happened next?" Yongguk curiously asked.

"And nothing. I spent my college years moping around while getting good grades. I tried to experiment with other people. Worked for a bit, but Youngjae left a pretty huge hole in my heart. He was my first everything, I think. My first kiss, my first relationship, my first love, my first blowjob, my first sexual partner, etc. I think we were each other's firsts, minus the kiss," Jongup answered.

Yongguk looked pretty impressed by this.

"I thought we were gonna have a lot of firsts in the future. First apartment, first pet, first house, first cars, first weddings. So many firsts just flushed down the drain. But you know what, I think I'll be okay for now. Youngjae may be my first love, but I'll have other loves, too," Jongup said.

"God your life is so depressing. But hey, at least you have Junhong and Himchan. They look like they got everything together so far. And who knows. Maybe you'll find your soulmate next year," Yongguk offered.

"Gee, thanks. It's getting late, which I'm a bit surprised about. Do you need anything before I decide to sleep?" Jongup asked him.

"You got any headphones I can borrow? Himchan stole mines so I can't listen to music while I sleep," Yongguk requested.

Jongup found a pair of rather old headphones. He doesn't know if they work anymore, but he gave them to Yongguk to test them out anyway.

"If they don't work, just use mine. I know the apartment gets a little creepy when it's all dark and silent, but after a while you get used to it," Jongup told him.

"I'll keep that in mind."

Jongup waved him a goodnight as he began to make his way towards his room. He closed the door and changed into his pajamas, which consists of a pair of flannel pants and a white t-shirt. He turned off the lights, got into bed, and quickly fell asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow.


	16. December 16

Jongup woke up earlier than he thought. He doesn't go into work for another three hours, so he decided to get himself ready for the day. He took a shower and got dressed. He went into the kitchen and jumped in fright when he saw Yongguk in his kitchen, eating his cereal.

"God, I forgot you were staying here for a few days," Jongup tells him.

Yongguk only shrugged his shoulders and continued to eat, as if he doesn't care what was going on. Jongup didn't blame him. If he was Yongguk, he wouldn't care, either.

"So what's on today's agenda," Jongup asked him as he began to get a bowl for his cereal.

"Apartment hunting, probably. We can discuss more on the wedding thing if you want," Yongguk offered.

"I have work, but we can get breakfast if you want. Or brunch," Jongup said, holding onto his bowl, just in case.

"Sure. We can go to some cafe and get something good to eat. I've been meaning to try out this one cafe that has some good reviews about their breakfast food," Yongguk agreed.

Jongup put the bowl back and grabbed Junhong's car keys. Yongguk placed the dirty bowl in the sink and followed right behind Jongup. Yongguk was wearing a plain shirt with sweats and wearing socks with sandals. Jongup shuddered a bit at the fashion choice, but ignored it and began to make their way towards the restaurant that served brunch.

"Explain to me again why you don't have a license?" Jongup requested as they both entered Junhong's car.

\-----

The restaurant was fancy, but not too fancy that Jongup and Yongguk could enter with their horrid fashion choices. The two were sat by a window. Jongup ordered iced tea, while Yongguk ordered an iced coffee. The two looked through the menu and saw many different choices that they could prepare.

"Jesus, they go all out on the food here," Jongup noted.

"God, I'm so hungry," Yongguk said.

"You just had cereal twenty minutes ago," Jongup pointed out.

"So? I could still be hungry."

Jongup already knew what he wanted. A burger with fruit and some French fries. He also asked for some French pastry that he believes is called crepes.

"What are you getting?" Jongup asked him.

"I'm thinking either their house waffles or an omelet. What are you getting?" Yongguk asked.

"The house burger. The one with the onion ring inside. Along with it will be some fruit and French fries. For dessert, I will get some crepes because I deserve it," Jongup answered.

"Sounds fancy," Yongguk muttered.

Jongup only smiled cheekily. Their waiter finally came over to their table just as Yongguk placed his menu down on the table.

"Hi, are you ready to order?" their waiter asked.

The two gave them their food order and waited. Jongup played around with the syrup dispenser and the salt and pepper.

"So, not a breakfast person?" Yongguk asked him.

"Meh. I only eat cereal for breakfast. I never try to eat too fancy because I believe breakfast food is disgusting. There are some good foods that should be served for breakfast, but I mostly eat cereal and be done with it. Lunch and dinner has the best prepared food, in my opinion," Jongup answered.

"That's too bad. I can't cook, but I do like some of the breakfast foods that some fast food joints serve. Especially those egg and muffin combos. Those are so good," Yongguk exclaimed.

"I'll remember that," Jongup only said as he stopped the dispenser from spinning.

After a couple of minutes talking to one another, their food finally appeared. Jongup's meal looked like it belonged to kings, he thought. He looked over at Yongguk's breakfast and saw that we did go with an omelet.

"What's in your omelet?" Jongup questioned.

"Spinach, mushrooms, cheese, and tomato. Why, do you want a bite?" Yongguk asked him.

"I mean, sure," he answered.

Yongguk cut up a small piece of the omelet for Jongup to try and fed Jongup with his fork. That surprised Jongup a little it, but he accepted the omelet on the fork. He chewed and tried to savor the taste. It was actually pretty good, if Jongup was honest.

"If I didn't know better, I'd think you were flirting," Jongup commented.

Yongguk only rolled his eyes as he began to eat his omelet, covered in Jongup's spit. Not really, since Yongguk did clean it. Jongup only laughed as he began to dig into his lunch.

\-----

After eating and paying for their meal, they left the restaurant and began to head back to Junhong's car. Jongup dropped Yongguk at the music store and then began to drive to the bookstore. He parked his car and began to make his way inside.

"Jongup!" a familiar voice called out.

Jongup turned his head and knew he should've stayed in bed. There was a rather long and angry line in front of Euijin and Sumin's register. Kyungwook looked like he was trying to control the line as best as he could, but he was getting yelled at as well.

"What the hell?" Jongup questioned.

"We had four call outs today. Apparently the roads were too slippery and there was a huge collision on the road. We need all the help that we could get," Euijin told him.

Jongup cursed under his breath. He realized that it was snowing pretty heavily outside. He didn't think that it would be this bad. He quickly went to the back, punched in his number, grabbed his name tag, and quickly walked up to a cash register and opened up. Immediately there was a swarm of people coming up to him, complaining that their book order was supposed to arrive today, to which Jongup explained to them that there was a huge accident on the roads that their packages would have to arrive sometime later tomorrow or next week.

He realized that it wasn't really a good answer.

He continued to scan purchases, answer any questions a customer had, and tried to calm down angry customers who are demanding why their package or a certain book wasn't in stock.

And it was only him and three others the whole day. Their manager who was observing them gave them a huge Christmas bonus for sticking with the shift. Jongup wanted to go home and sleep.

As the day was winding down to a close, finally. Jongup got into Junhong's car, made sure that he missed whatever frozen ice on the road and was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic. The day was starting to go nicely in the start, and now he has to deal with people who didn't know how to drive in slippery roads. Jongup doesn't blame them. They want to get home, too. And plus, everybody wants to be as safe as they could.

When Jongup finally turned down a street he is familiar with, he begins to make the journey home. He needs a tall glass of wine. Alcohol really.

He parked the car in the garage, got out, and made his way towards his apartment. He gets in the elevator and begins to make its way up. After a few minutes, Jongup crashes into his apartment and closes the door rather loudly.

"Oops," Jongup muttered.

Yongguk makes his way out of his room and sees Jongup tossing his stuff either on the couch or on the floor. Then proceeds to lay on the floor with his back on the floor.

"Rough day?" Yongguk asked, looking over his face.

Jongup let out a noise that sounds either a low groan or a strangled cry. It could be both.

"Almost everybody called out. It was only me and three other people. It was one of the busiest days ever! We even called in people who had the day off, but they had plans and couldn't leave. We didn't want them to cancel their plans anyway, so we dealt with it. I have never, in my life, been yelled at so much. A customer made Euijin cry, you know," Jongup retold, feeling the exhaustion creeping up on his legs.

"Holy shit man. Do you need something?" Yongguk asked.

"Yes. Alcohol, preferably. I need to be so drunk that I don't remember what just happened," Jongup requested as he began to get up from the floor.

"I got some eggnog in the fridge. If we use that and pour in some rum or brandy or bourbon, I'm sure you can get drunk on that," Yongguk offered.

Jongup didn't care. It was festive and if it had alcohol of some sort, he'll drink it. Yongguk grabbed a carton of eggnog and poured some in two separate glasses. He grabbed a bottle of brandy that Jongup had no knowledge of having and poured at least a shot glass full in each one. Jongup grabbed the brandy, grabbed his own glass, and poured almost half into the glass.

"Wow. It was that rough," Yongguk observed.

Jongup set the brandy down and took a swig. He winced at the taste, but swallowed it anyway. It tasted sweet still, but the aftertaste of the brandy was still evident on his tongue. Yongguk did the same thing with his drink and took a swig of the drink. Jongup and Yongguk took the bottle of brandy and made their way into the living room.

\-----

It took them ten minutes before one of them was laughing themselves silly. Jongup, he noted, was a bit of a lightweight. He was also either sleepy or giggly when it came to alcohol. Yongguk was just straight up giggly.

"And- And then he dropped the bottle and it _shattered_ ," Yongguk recalled, which prompted for both of them to laugh hysterically.

"You- you know, you look very sexy," Jongup slurred, leaning a little too forward into Yongguk's touch.

"I-I think you look sssexy, too. But I dun wanna ruin the rules, ya know?" Yongguk slurred.

Jongup took a swig of the brandy and emptied it clean. He laid it next to the other two bottles they finished and Jongup stared at Yongguk's eyes.

"We won't be breaking rules if- if we both do it," Jongup pointed out.

Yongguk furrowed his eyebrows. He took another bottle of brandy (how many did Jongup have in this apartment) and opened it. The two shared the drink. Jongup remembered Yongguk placing the bottle down on the coffee table and kissing Jongup sloppily and furiously. He remembered his mouth was wet after that, but Jongup kissed him just the same. The two stumbled into the nearest room they were able to enter inside (Junhong's) and began to take off their shirts. Jongup tripped over something and landed hard on the floor. He was mostly giggling as he stared at the ceiling.

"You okay?" Yongguk asked as he hauled him up.

"Yes! Are we doing the sex now?" Jongup asked.

The two shared one more drink as Yongguk laid Jongup on top of the bed and the two had 'the sex' as Jongup so lightly placed it.


	17. December 17

Jongup woke up to a huge pounding headache and his mouth feeling like he was chewing on cotton. It felt like his head was getting cracked open. He groaned and tried to sit up, but his body ached as well. He took a look at his surroundings and saw that he was in Junhong's old room, except it was more Yongguk's room than anything. He turned his body and saw Yongguk sleeping next to him peacefully. Jongup lifted the covers and realized that he's naked. And that there are three condoms and a bottle of lube on the floor.

"Fuck," Jongup muttered.

He ever so carefully tried to get off the bed, until he felt Yongguk snaking his arms around Jongup's waist. He groaned and planted his face against the pillow. He looked over his shoulder and saw Yongguk waking up, finally. Yongguk woke up, looked to see who he was clinging on to, and immediately let go of him.

"Ugh. I knew I shouldn't have drunken that brandy," Yongguk muttered, running his hands over his face. "And why does my back hurt?"

"I think we ran out of lube and used what we could," Jongup explained.

"Well, I feel like shit," Yongguk said.

"You and me both. Hey, you know that means we broke another rule, right?" Jongup told him.

"I know. I didn't want to, but you seduced me," Yongguk joked.

"Oh please, you seduced me first. You kissed me first, you know," Jongup pointed out.

Yongguk only rolled his eyes. He put on a pair of clean underwear and a pair of sweats. Jongup put on his own boxers and a pair of loose pants and walked out of Junhong's room.

"You know, I do get sexually frustrated from time to time Masturbation is great at times, but I think it'll be great if I had somebody to have sex with," Yongguk explained, handing Jongup two aspirins and a glass of water.

Jongup raised an eyebrow.

"Are you saying we should be fuck buddies?" Jongup asked him.

"I mean, sure. We're already each other's fake dates. Which reminds me, are you doing anything on the nineteenth?" Yongguk asked.

"Not that I'm aware of. Why?" Jongup asked.

"My parents host this really weird get together with the family, since everybody lives in different areas and countries. Instead of celebrating it on Christmas like everybody else, we celebrate it a few days earlier. So, I'm asking you to be my date," Yongguk offered.

"Wow. Meeting the family. Next thing we're doing is fake-getting married," Jongup jokingly said.

"Hey, people do that for financial gain, you know. So you in? I can meet your family," Yongguk said.

"Sure. I got nothing else to do. And like I said, I highly doubt it. You'll meet my brothers the day after Christmas, though, so if you want, you can be my fake-date for an extra day," Jongup answered.

Yongguk only smiled.

"You didn't answer my previous question. Do you want to be fuck buddies?" Yongguk asked.

Jongup thought about it. He gets rather attached to people when he has sex with them. He also has read too many books and watched too much romantic comedy movies with Himchan to know where this was going.

But then...

"Okay. I need to blow off steam once in a while," Jongup agreed.

"It'll also be good for fake dating, you know. You stopped giggling when I try to kiss you," Yongguk pointed out.

Jongup noted that Yongguk was right about that. He stopped giggling, finally, but he still felt nervous around the older.

"I need to go apartment hunting, and then I'm heading to work. When is Junhong and Himchan supposed to come home?" Yongguk asked.

"The twentieth, I believe. Hey, if you want, you can stay here. My landlord is putting a listing for the apartment room anyway, so it would be good if you applied instead of me getting a random stranger," Jongup requested.

Yongguk smiled fondly. He only nodded his head as he began to make his way out of the door. Jongup let out a sigh of relief.

What was he doing?

\-----

He contemplated calling Junhong many number of times, but every time he does, he stares at the screen with Junhong's name, and then turns it off. He doesn't want to disturb Junhong while he was on his honeymoon. Especially with something so trivial and something he'll get over quickly.

"Jongup? Earth to Jongup!" someone called out.

He jumped out of his thoughts and saw Yoonsun staring at him, waving her hand in front of his face.

"Yes?" Jongup asked.

"I was calling your name for the past five minutes. Help us bring in some new books inside. We got the shipment that was supposed to arrive yesterday," Yoonsun told him.

Jongup saw that the store was somewhat empty. There were some shoppers inside, but it was pretty much bare. Jongup left the cash register, leaving Sumin alone at the register. He walked towards the back where all the shipment of books were and helped bring in some boxes for the day. The books were a bit heavier than usual, and it could be because people did some last minute shopping and decided to ship it here. He placed many of the books behind the registers and began to move some of the other books towards their rightful place.

"Oh, Harry Potter," Jongup read out loud.

"Yep. They finally translated it to Korean so the others can read it. I heard it wasn't that good," Sungwon told him.

"I heard that, too. I don' know why she doesn't leave the franchise alone," Jongup voiced out.

Jongup began to stack the books to their rightful places, placing the new arrivals on display so others can be able to quickly buy them. After he was finished, he went back to the register to help out an elderly man find a book he needs for his granddaughter.

\-----

After a rather slow and agonizing day, he was finally able to go home. Well, he was getting hungry and hasn't visited the Night Coffee Shop in a while. He got into Junhong's car, which he is starting to affiliate with his own car, and began to make the drive towards the coffee shop. He parked the car on the street, got out, and entered inside the rather warm coffee shop. He ordered a warm drink and sat towards the back next to the window.

"If I can't dance, if I can't dance. No if I-"

"Hello, Junhong," Jongup answered, getting strange looks from everybody in the room.

"Jonguppie! How are you?" Junhong asked, rather cheerfully.

"I'm fine. What time is it over there? It sounds like birds chirping," Jongup observed.

"I think it's an eight-hour difference. Let me see... it's probably four over where you are, since it's eight in the morning here!" Junhong replied rather excitedly.

"I'm sure Himchan is excited about that," Jongup said amusingly.

"Oh, he's not. In fact, we're actually getting ready to get some breakfast. You'd love it here, Jongup. It's so nice, the weather is warm, even the landscapes are gorgeous! I could live here if I want, but I won't because I'll miss home too much," Junhong said.

Jongup smiled at Junhong's rather enthusiastic tone. He missed his best friend's voice. He was a bit disappointed that he wasn't Junhong's best man, but he'll get over it. He did officiate their wedding after all.

"Hey, can I ask you something? It might be a bit weird," Jongup asked.

"Oh sure, no problem! Himchan is taking a long shower, so I got time," Junhong agreed.

"Say you were fake dating someone. And you guys made some rules. Let's say one of those rules says that we can't have sex with one another. And then let's say you did have sex with them. What would you do?" Jongup asked.

The line was silent. Jongup was afraid that Junhong accidentally hung up on him or the call hit a bad area.

"Wait, did you sleep with Yongguk?" Junhong asked.

Jongup could feel his face reddening. He let out a pathetic whine, earning a few weird glances at him. Jongup was a little bit embarrassed.

"Holy shit, you did! Himchan, Jongup slept with Yongguk!" he heard Junhong call out to Himchan.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Jongup muttered.

"Look, I don't see what the big deal is. You need to express your sexual frustration. When was the last time you had sex with someone before Yongguk?" Junhong asked.

Jongup thought about it. It has been a while. The last time was with a girl. At least, he thinks it was a girl?

"See, the silence proves I'm right. Just let Yongguk fuck it out of your system for a while and then we'll see what happens! Besides, you don't have feelings for him anyway," Junhong finally said.

"I mean, I guess. I just feel weird using someone like that," Jongup explained.

"Well don't be! Hey, free sex. Besides, Yongguk is pretty hot if you ask me," Junhong observed.

He heard shouting in the background and Junhong defending himself.

"I gotta go. I need to soothe a man's ego," Junhong told him.

"Well, do it in private. I don't want others to hear your weird sex," Jongup said.

After saying their goodbyes, Jongup hung up the phone and began to eat his warm sandwiches. He was starving and this was going to hold him over for a while.

\-----

Jongup stumbled inside his apartment and smelled something rather yummy. He looked into the kitchen and sees Yongguk setting down plates of fast food from the restaurant next door. Everything was placed elegantly and neat.

"Well, I didn't expect you to cook," Jongup said jokingly.

Yongguk looked up from his food placing and smiled

"Hey, I slaved away in the kitchen to prepare this," Yongguk told him.

"You mean buying it from the restaurant next door? That's efficient," Jongup said.

Yongguk only shrugged his shoulders. He placed two plates down on the dining table and sat down. Jongup sat down as well and began to eat his food. It tasted rather delicious and heavenly.

"This is usually what I do. I buy whatever food I can find at a nearby fast food restaurant and save the rest for leftovers. I should've asked if you cooked," Yongguk explained.

"I cook well, I guess. I can follow the recipe without burning the whole place down," Jongup answered.

"See, I can't do that. I burn toast. I was burnt water because I was boiling it too much," Yongguk said.

Jongup couldn't help but laugh at that image. It was hilarious. He could imagine Yongguk trying to cook in the kitchen when everything goes up in flames.

"But hey, I can make a mean ramen, you know," Yongguk tells him.

"Yes, all you need to do is boil water and place already made ramen into the pot. Very manly," Jongup replied sarcastically.

Yongguk only smiled as he continued to eat his dinner. Dinner was a rather quiet affair. The two drank a bottle of wine each and mostly talked about random topics. From work to what's on television to rather weird jokes that they both heard.

As the day was coming to an end, Jongup washed his dishes and placed them in the dishwasher. He said goodnight to Yongguk and began to make the walk towards his room. He closed the door and laid down on the bed. He could feel his heart beating rather loudly against his chest. He rolled over and began to fall asleep.


	18. December 18

Jongup knew he shouldn't have woken up that day. He was tired and his body was aching again. He groaned and stretched out his back.

"You okay?" Yongguk asked him.

"Ugh. My mom wants to get together. She wants to know how everything is going," Jongup confirmed.

"Oh. Well, that's... sweet," Yongguk hesitated, trying to form his words.

"She caught wind that I finally found a boyfriend and wishes to meet him. Since you're being paid for this, you're meeting my mom a little earlier. She wants to meet us for lunch," Jongup told him.

"And tomorrow you're meeting my family. Oh how fun," Yongguk replied sarcastically.

Jongup ignored him and texted back his mom about the details. He stuffed his cell phone back in his pocket and continued to eat his toast. He loves his mom. She gave birth to him and raised him while his dad was knocking back a few beers while having sex with whatever hooker he could find. His mom sacrificed her dignity and her body for her sons, so Jongup didn't mind seeing her again.

It was her mental state and her judgement that he was worried about.

Jongup would be talking to his mom at times and it sometimes feels like she isn't really all there. It worries him, of course, but he wonders if she's doing okay, since his elder brother is taking care of her with his family.

"I just want to warn you that she has a few loose screws in her hand. If you see her doing something strange, ignore her," Jongup warns.

"I'm sure your mom will be fine. Parents love me," Yongguk assured him.

"I'm not worried about that. See, she took a rather long time to accept the fact that her baby son isn't straight. It took her an even longer time to accept the fact that her daughter is actually now her son. Believe me, it took years for her to accept anything. Just be aware of the questions, reactions, and actions she does," Jongup explained.

Yongguk hummed in agreement. The two continued to eat in comfortable silence.

\-----

Jongup wore his best, with Yongguk wearing what he usually wears, which consists of a black shirt, a coat, a pair of jeans, and some boots. Jongup didn't bother to warn Yongguk that his mom will judge his choice of clothing and left the apartment. They got into his car (he is officially dubbing Junhong's car as his own) and began to drive to the restaurant that his mom made reservations to. The restaurant was the same one that his mother took him whenever he and his brothers were good boys whenever his mother brought home strange men.

He parked his car and got out. The two were about to walk in, until Yongguk stopped him.

"Should we walk in hand in hand? Arm over the shoulder? Hand on the hip? We need to make this real," Yongguk asked him.

Jongup thought about it.

"Hand holding is fine. The same with dinner with your parents. The dinner rehearsal for Youngjae and Daehyun we should definitely do the hand on hip thing. We'll go over plans later," Jongup tells him.

Yongguk laced his fingers with Jongup's and entered inside the restaurant.

The restaurant looked a bit bare, with few people eating inside and small conversation was made. The hostess looked rather bored as she continued to text on her phone.

"Hello and welcome. How many?" the hostess asked in a monotone voice.

"We have reservations. Moon," Jongup requested.

The hostess looked up and raised an eyebrow. Jongup didn't blame her. The restaurant at this time looked dead. He knew that as time progressed that it'll get busier. He knows. He once worked here for a while.

"Right. This way," she instructed.

The hostess leads the two towards the back, where a woman was sitting at a booth. She looked rather frail, with thin black hair and pale skin. Jongup recognized her immediately.

"Hey mom," Jongup greeted.

His mother looked up and a smile broke from her face. The smile resembled like his own. She stood up and hugged her song tightly.

"My, you've grown so much! I haven't seen you in so long," she greeted.

"Mom, this is Yongguk. My boyfriend," Jongup introduced.

Yongguk smiled politely and offered his hand to shake, but his mother instead hugged him tightly as well. Jongup let his mother sit down in the booth and Jongup sat down first. Yongguk sat down next to him and looked across.

"My, your boyfriend is rather handsome. To be honest, I imagined him... smaller," his mother admitted.

Jongup dug his nails into the table and tried not to say anything rude.

"So how's Jongsung and his family?" Jongup asked.

"Oh, they're fine. Jongsung got promoted at his job, you know. Oh, and Seoyeon is pregnant again. This is their third child so far," his mother replied, taking a sip of her water.

"What about you, mom? How are you?" Jongup asked her.

"Mm. I'm fine. You know me. Trying to keep everything together. You should visit your older brother sometimes," his mother said, placing her thin fingers on top of Jongup's hand.

"When I have the time. Do you know what Jonghyun is doing?" Jongup asked her.

"No idea. He contacted me about a few months ago, but I lost contact with him again. Probably doing whatever it is trans people do," she answered.

"Mom," Jongup warned.

He looked over at Yongguk, who looked a little bit uncomfortable at the short conversations they were having.

"What? I'm speaking the truth, you know. If it was up to me, he wouldn't need to transition. But lord knows once he becomes of age, he could do whatever he wants. Got hormonal pills and everything. Now, Yongguk, do you have any issues with trans people?" his mother asked him.

"Mom, that's not a conversation you bring up at the table," Jongup warned.

"It's a simple question! Everybody asks that," she argued.

"I mean, I don't mind them. They should do whatever makes them comfortable is my philosophy," Yongguk replied.

"Yes, but is it fair for the family? I thought I raised a daughter for the past eighteen years and then I find out she is a he? I mean-"

"Mom, I heard grandma and grandpa are coming over for the holidays," Jongup interrupted, trying to veer away from the conversation.

"Oh, they are. Mom and dad are going to be thrilled to see Jongsung and his wife are expecting another child," she said.

Jongup took a sip of his own water as he began to look over the menu.

"So when are you two going to have children?" his mother asked.

Jongup almost choked on his water. Yongguk looked rather surprised at Jongup's mother's rather blunt question.

"Mom, we've only been dating a year. It's too soon to tell," Jongup confirmed.

Yongguk looked over at Jongup and raised an eyebrow. Jongup gave him a look that read 'we'll talk later'.

"Well, there's nothing wrong with adopting early. You know, one of my oldest friends had a child when her and her boyfriend were dating for only six months. He loved and cared for that child. I'm just saying to think ahead in the future," his mother explained.

Jongup wanted to reply to her, but their waiter suddenly appeared.

"Hi, sorry for not arriving sooner. Can I start you guys off with anything to drink?" their waiter asked.

After ordering their drink, Jongup remained calm and collected as his mother continued to look through the menu. He could feel the embarrassment radiating off his skin as his mother continued to browse.

"Hey, you okay?" Yongguk asked him.

Jongup looked up and only nodded his head.

"So Jongup, why didn't you bring Yongguk to our little Christmas get together last year? Or any other time we get together this year?" his mother asked him.

"We were still getting used to the idea of dating. I just got over Youngjae then, you know, so I wanted to make sure that this wasn't temporary," Jongup answered.

"Oh, Youngjae. I heard he's getting married on Christmas. And that his fiancé is rather small. Must be nice. That way they-"

"Mom, their relationship is not heteronormative. They're two men who love each other very much and it would be greatly appreciated if you didn't stick them to the male-female roles," Jongup requested.

His mother was about to open her mouth to reply, until their waiter came back with their drinks. Jongup oh so badly wanted to order something with alcohol in it, but he's driving and he can't trust Yongguk to drive.

"So mom, was there a specific reason you asked me to come, or did you want to see how much of a failure I am?" Jongup asked her.

"Oh Jongup, I love you and your brothers equally. I asked you to come so that I could see how you were doing. And to see what your new boyfriend was like," his mother explained.

"You could've seen him on the twenty-sixth, you know. There was no reason to see him early," Jongup told her.

His mother ignored him and focused her attention onto Yongguk.

"So. How did you two meet?" she asked him.

"We met at Jongup's work. I actually had a small crush on him and kept asking him for help to get some books. The books kept getting stranger and I guess Jongup figured it out because he slipped a piece of paper with his number on it in the book I was buying," Yongguk answered.

"Well, it seems that Jongup is finally being a romantic. When he asked Youngjae out, he had to ask me for help," she replied, laughing a little bit towards the end.

Jongup groaned. He remembered when he asked his mother for advice, and then proceeded to call up Youngjae to asked him out for his son. He didn't intend for his mother to ask him out. He just wanted advice to ask Youngjae out.

"Well, we all grow out of things," Yongguk said awkwardly.

Jongup didn't blame him. This is the most awkward lunch they had ever acquired. Their waiter came back, asking if they are ready to order. The three ordered their lunch and the silence became awkward again.

"So, Yongguk, where do you work?" she asked.

"I own a music shop in town. It's actually doing rather well," Yongguk answered.

"Well, Jongsung actually owns a restaurant that is doing rather well, too. That's how he earned his money," his mother told him.

Jongup wanted to so badly wrap duct tape over his mother's mouth so that she won't speak often.

"I'm sure it's doing well, but music is different from food. Music is meant to be digested and listen to for centuries to come. Restaurants will always be around no matter what type of food there is. Different perspectives, different ways of living," Yongguk explained.

His mother only nodded her head, although Jongup wasn't sure if it was because she agrees with him or because it was a natural thing for her to do. Before his mother could open his mouth to comment, their lunch finally arrived. Everything smelled rather delicious and heavenly.

"Oh, this reminds me when you and your brothers were kids. You three would always order the same thing. I see tastes change," his mother commented as she began to bite into her sandwich.

This was going to be a long lunch.

\-----

Jongup finished his lunch rather quickly, but he had to wait for his mother to finish, which seemed to take forever. She couldn't stop bragging about her life back in high school and college and how she wished that her sons took after her charisma and charm. Jongup sometimes wanted to slap her. He remembered his aunts telling him that his mother was always strange and tried to make as much friends as she could, and she always had a habit of stealing their boyfriends.

Lunch finally ended and Jongup said goodbye to his mother. Yongguk said his own goodbyes and followed Jongup towards the car. As soon as they entered inside, Jongup let out a frustrated scream, not even caring that Yongguk was besides him.

"Feeling better?" Yongguk asked him.

"Ugh. No wonder Jongsung can't stand living with her. She always opens her big fat mouth without thinking," Jongup said. He could feel a headache coming on.

"How did your mom get like that? I know you said she had a few screws missing, but I think you were being kind about that," Yongguk asked.

"She was abused by my dad before he passed. She has been trying to keep this family together for a while. She also slept around in order to get us off the street. Those guys also abused her for a bit. She sort of snapped when I left for college, I think," Jongup explained as best as he could.

"There's no way that-"

"I know, believe me. I tried to see how my mom got like that. We've been taking her to see a therapist for a while, but we realized that it's not working when we asked about her. That's why during my college years I tried to go to a therapist so that I don't end up like her," Jongup said.

Jongup finally started up the car and began to drive their way home.

"You need a fuck?" Yongguk asked him.

"Can I be in charge?" Jongup asked.

"I think you deserve it," Yongguk agreed.

Jongup was looking forward to it, at least.

\-----

Jongup got up from his bed, dressed in some new clothes. He looked over on the other side and saw that Yongguk was already dressed as well, but Jongup saw a tattoo on his back before he pulled it over his head.

"What does your tattoo say?" Jongup asked him.

Yongguk turned his head and placed a hand over his shoulder.

"Do what you love, love what you do. It's been a saying of mine when I was in college. It's something I try and follow, too," Yongguk answered.

Jongup hummed and stared at the other tattoos that Yongguk had. He'll ask about those some other days.

"Well, I need to sleep and so do you. We have a long day with my family. But, to be honest, seeing your mom makes my family look tame," Yongguk said, getting up from the bed and going to Junhong's room.

Jongup only nodded his head and stared at the spot that Yongguk made. He sighed and crawled back into bed. He needed to sleep anyway. His mother exhausted him.


	19. December 19

Jongup woke up to someone banging on his bedroom door. He groaned when he felt someone ripping the sheets from his bed.

"Five more minutes," Jongup groaned, trying to get as much warmth as he could.

"Nope! You gotta get up right now. My parents believe in punctuality, which means we need to leave the house two hours before we're supposed to be there," Yongguk told him.

Jongup groaned and stared at the clock. It was nine in the morning.

"What time are we supposed to be there?" Jongup asked, feeling like his mouth is stuffed with cotton.

"At three, but my siblings like to rub it in my face that I'm always the last one there, so I'm gonna prove them wrong. We're leaving at exactly one so we can be the first ones there," Yongguk told him.

Jongup sighed and hauled himself out of bed. He ushered Yongguk out of his room so that he could get changed. Yongguk then joked that he has seen Jongup's dick, so there wasn't any need for modesty. Jongup's response was him throwing Yongguk out into the hall and slamming the door in his face. He changed into his better clothes, which consisted of a baby blue button down shirt, a rather festive Christmas sweater vest that showed black reindeers in a white background, a pair of beige slacks, and his dress shoes.

When Jongup stepped out, he realized he was a bit underdressed. Yongguk stepped out in a two-piece suit and damn, did he look handsome. Jongup had to resist jumping Yongguk's bones, because they're not in a relationship and this was going to be over once Yongguk meets his family.

Remembering that made his heart hurt a little.

"You look like a teacher," Yongguk commented.

"Well, I figured that I might as well please your parents. Besides, this is the only outfits I like wearing. It's comfy and it makes me look stylish," Jongup stated.

Yongguk raised an eyebrow. Jongup rolled his eyes as he began to tie a tie around his neck to make it look a little bit professional.

"Do I look professional now?" Jongup asked, showing his outfit.

"Now you look like a teacher with a tie," Yongguk joked.

Jongup stuck his tongue out and began to scavenge something in his refrigerator.

"Since we're actually a bit earlier, we can get something to eat at McDonalds or something. We need something light because my parents believe in stuffing us until we can't walk," Yongguk said.

"I can see that the thought didn't happen. You're so skinny! I feel like I'm hugging a branch or something," Jongup told him.

Yongguk only rolled his eyes. The two left the apartment and made their way to Jongup's car. They got in and began to make their way to Yongguk's parent's house.

\-----

After getting lost three times, they finally made it to Yongguk's parent's house. Jongup had never seen a house like this before. It looked modern, with the lights shinning orange and the grass completely clean. The house looked rather square, but it was two storied and the windows on the second story looked larger. Jongup was almost sure that the house looked bigger.

"Welcome to my parent's house," Yongguk introduced.

The way that Yongguk said it made it seem that it wasn't his childhood home. That this house didn't witness his first words, or his first steps, or any other firsts.

The two got out of the car and made their way towards the front. Yongguk rang the doorbell and the two waited patiently. After waiting a few minutes, the door opened to reveal a shorter woman with short hair and expensive looking clothes. She smiled widely, which resembled Yongguk's smile, so Jongup knew that this must be his mother.

"Gukkie! You've made it okay! And you're early. Your siblings haven't arrived yet," his mother greeted.

Yongguk leaned down and hugged his mother tightly. She looked rather sweet. She let go of Yongguk and turned her attention to Jongup.

"And this must be Jongup! Hello! Yongguk has told me nothing except that he's bringing home a date," she greeted.

Jongup was about to go for a handshake, until she hugged him tightly.

"Please make my son happy," she pleaded.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows and was about to ask her what she meant, until she pulled away and let the two enter inside. The inside was completely decorative. The furniture looked brand new and the television was mounted on the wall. Bookcases littered around the house, with different studies and genres of literature placed in it. Jongup saw the dining table decorated nicely and intricately.

"This is the living room, and next to it is the dining room. You two can rest in the living room. Your father should be down any minute now," she said, walking out of the room and calling someone, possibly Yongguk's father.

The two sat in the living room and Jongup could feel the awkwardness.

"Hey, did you live in this house when you were younger?" Jongup asked him.

"Hell no. This place is too out of place for me. I mean, it's a gorgeous house, but it doesn't have a lot of... character, I guess. It doesn't feel like home," Yongguk answered.

"When did you guys move?" Jongup asked him.

Yongguk thought about it.

"I think I was in high school when we moved. We had the money to find a new house. Besides, my siblings and I were already working at the time, so we were able to pay our way towards college. My parents wanted a smaller house, but got a house with two stories. Thankfully it only has four room, but still," Yongguk said.

Jongup only nodded his head. He doesn't know how exactly that feels. Jonghyun still lives in their childhood house and refuses to sell it. In fact, Jonghyun has paid the house off when he got married. When Jonghyun moved out, Jongup would be buying that house and fixing it up to make it look nicer.

"Hello, Yongguk," a voice greeted them.

The two stood up and Jongup saw an elderly man. He looked almost like Yongguk, except for his eyes. Yongguk got his eyes from his mother. His father looked rather mean, with bulky muscles and a stern expression.

"Hello, father," Yongguk greeted, feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"And who's your friend?" his father asked.

"Father, meet Jongup. My boyfriend," Yongguk introduced.

Jongup thought about going in for a hug, but this man didn't look like he wanted a hug. He held his hand out for a handshake, which the man accepted.

"Boyfriend, huh? This won't be like that time you brought in that girl and claimed she was your girlfriend, are you? I hope you didn't bring any of those fake dates of yours," his father accused.

"Dad, Jongup is different," Yongguk confessed.

His father didn't look impressed, or believed him. Jongup didn't blame him. If his son brought home so many fake dates in the past that it was starting to get ridiculous, he would believe him.

"So then how did you two meet?" his father asked.

"At the bookstore where I work. He kept asking for help about some strange books and I helped him out. I began to figure out that he liked me, so I wrote my phone number on a piece of paper and slipped it in his book without him noticing," Jongup answered confidentially.

His father stared down at him, possibly hoping that Jongup would crack.

He dealt with scarier men and scarier stares.

"Well, relax. Your siblings should be here in a few minutes or so," his father ordered.

As soon as he said that, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, that must be Natasha! I'll get it," Yongguk's mother announced.

Jongup saw Yongguk's mother walking up to the door and opening it, greeting whoever was out there. He felt someone lacing his fingers and saw that it was Yongguk, who looked a bit nervous. He heard children squealing and a male voice. Four people entered the house and greeted their father warmly.

"Oh, hello! And who are you?" the girl asked him.

"I'm Jongup. I'm Yongguk's boyfriend," Jongup greeted.

"Well, I'm Natasha. This is my husband, Charu, and my kids," she greeted. "And I see Yongguk is the first to arrive here, for once. How was the drive here?"

"I'm not good with directions and Jongup was the one driving," Yongguk answered, hugging his sister warmly.

He could see the family resemblance.

The doorbell rang again and Yongguk's mother dashed towards the door before anybody volunteered to answer the door. Jongup noted to himself that Natasha also has a few tattoos adorning her body, and it looked beautiful. He wanted to ask about that, until another figure came into view and for a second, he had to double check to see if Yongguk was actually next to him. Next to Yongguk's clone was a female with a big shiny rock on her ring finger.

"Jongup, this is my twin brother, Yongnam, and his fiancée, June. She's from the States," Yongguk introduced.

Jongup greeted the two warmly. Yongguk and Yongnam hugged each other tightly. June looked a little out of place, but smiled warmly none the less.

"Well, sit! You all must be exhausted from the drive here. I heard that there was a snow storm where you are," Yongguk's mother ordered as she sat down in the white seat.

Jongup sat next to Yongguk on the couch and the arm of the couch. He felt awkward being around these people. He feels like he doesn't belong here at all. Then again, he doesn't. He's Yongguk's fake date for this. But, for once, he wants to believe that this is real.

"So Jongup, you work at a bookstore, is that correct?" Yongguk's father asked him.

Jongup snapped out of his thoughts and quickly nodded his head.

"Which one?" he asked

"The Nook Bookstore. It's a small chain, but we're hoping to open a coffee shop inside. That way everybody could find the book they want and read it while drinking their choice of drink," Jongup answered.

Jongup couldn't read Yongguk's father's face, and that scared him a bit.

"My dad was part of the marines. I should've warned you," Yongguk whispered to Jongup.

Jongup said nothing as he held onto Yongguk's hand. This was going to be rather long.

\-----

Dinner was ready. Everybody grabbed their place at the table, with the two kids at a smaller table right next to them. Jongup sat next to Yongguk and waited patiently. Yongguk's mother comes into the dining room and sets a large plate of chicken on the table, along with a juicy ham and mashed potatoes. Jongup noted that there were other foods, too, but he didn't know what he wanted to get at all. He didn't want to be rude and start serving himself. He sees Yongnam serving himself first as soon as Yongguk's mother sits down next to her husband, who sat at the head of the table.

"This looks great, mom," Yongguk complimented as he began to take as much food as his plate could handle.

Jongup began to do the same and grabbed as much food as he could. He really didn't eat much, so this was perfect to eat. He saw that nobody was moving when they grabbed their meals, so Jongup waited to eat.

"We pray at the table," Yongguk warned him.

Jongup wasn't really a religious person. He didn't believe in some mythical fairy in the sky that granted wishes. How could he when the same mythical fairy destroyed villages and people because he could and to test their will.

Jongup felt someone nudging at him. He looked around and saw that everybody had their heads down. Jongup followed behind and began to pray as well. He drowned out what Yongguk's father was saying. He could feel his stomach eating itself. He heard the words 'amen' and began to start eating his dinner. Everything tasted so delicious.

"I heard Himchan's wedding was... interesting," Yongguk's mother commented.

"I heard it went viral. So many people are talking about it," Natasha said.

"Didn't you officiate the wedding?" Charu asked him.

All eyes were on him.

"I officiate weddings. On the side, of course. And I only do it for friends and family," Jongup explained.

"You don't look very religious," Yongguk's father commented.

"I trained for it, I promise you," Jongup said.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Himchan and whatever his bride are off somewhere enjoying themselves," Yongguk's mother interrupted.

"Junhong is Himchan's husband. He's not really a bride," Jongup corrected.

Then dinner was awkward and silent. Jongup could cut the silence with a knife if he could.

"So, when is the wedding for you two?" Yongguk's mother asked, smiling at Yongnam and June.

"We're thinking of a spring wedding, but we're still going over details," Yongnam answered.

Jongup saw June sitting awkwardly next to Yongnam. Either two things that Jongup noted to himself; either June is awkward around the family and rather not say anything, or she can't speak Korean. He's going with option two.

"Oh, a spring wedding! How romantic. You know, your father and I got married in autumn. Oh, the recpetion was gorgeous. They got everything ready for fall and the colors were so cool and vibrant," Yongguk's mother gushed.

Jongup could feel Yongguk tensing up a bit. Yongguk's father was watching him and Jongup with interest and it was making Jongup feel a little bit awkward.

"Jongup, how did you and Yongguk meet?" Natasha asked.

"They met at the bookstore where Jongup works, apparently," Yongguk's father answered.

"Thank you, Jongup," Natasha replied icily.

"It wasn't really anything special. Yongguk kept asking me for different book titles that we didn't have and I have to do a special order for him. After a while, I began to pick up on his shy advances and put my number on a piece of paper and placed it in a book he was going to buy. He took the chance and we've been dating ever since," Jongup explained.

"And how long have you two dated?" Yongguk's mother asked.

"A year. Two in January," Yongguk answered.

Jongup wanted to look at Yongguk and give him a look, but Yongguk's father was still staring at him. He was now growing uncomfortable.

"I never knew Yongguk to be so shy around someone he likes. Usually he has to take the initiative," Natasha commented, taking a bite of her dinner.

"Well, not everyone can be you, now can they?" Yongguk questioned, grinning at his sister.

"Oh please, Charu needed the extra push. He wasn't doing anything to get my attention, so I asked him out. And look where we are now," Natasha replied.

"Didn't he say that his dream was being able to stop a car and pull someone out of it?" Yongnam asked.

"One handed," Natasha corrected.

Jongup snickered at that. Charu looked a bit proud of that statement.

"I'm still waiting for it to happen," Charu said.

The conversation continued as everybody ate their Christmas dinner. As soon as dinner was over and done with, everybody cleared the table and made their way towards the living room where a fake Christmas tree was. Jongup could tell it was fake because the tree was completely white.

"This year, we didn't do Christmas presents, so I suggest we tell a story or two. That way we can get to know everybody again," Yongguk's mother suggested.

Natasha, Yongguk, and Yongnam groaned at the suggestion.

"The last time we did that, it ended with me having a screaming match with dad. Do you really want to have that kind of Christmas again?" Natasha asked.

"Well, it would be nice to know everybody again. And to know what everybody did during the year," Yongguk's mother explained.

"Mom, June doesn't know Korean, so she can't participate," Yongnam told her.

June was fiddling around with her engagement ring, obviously looking uncomfortable. Yongnam wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her temple softly, which earned a small smile from her.

"Well, I don't know what else to do! We can't hand out presents because no one bought any. Besides, Christmas isn't for another few days," Yongguk's mother said.

"Honey, just let them leave. They'll visit us again in the New Year. It's no reason to trap them in here," Yongguk's father told her.

Yongguk's mother only huffed in annoyance, but agreed in the end. She let her children leave early and Jongup jumped at the opportunity. The family was nice and friendly, but Jongup felt like he didn't really belong. He grew up broke and poor and even though he doesn't live that lifestyle anymore, he still feels like everything isn't right for him.

Jongup and Yongguk got into their car and began to make their way home.

\-----

"That was the most awkward family dinner I have ever encountered, and I have my mom who just blurts out what's on her mind," Jongup recalled.

"Yeah, my mom tries to make everybody into a family, but we all know that it can't happen. I mean, we love each other, but my parents try too hard," Yongguk explained.

"Meh. It's getting late and I'm going to bed. Night," Jongup told him.

Yongguk waved him off as he began to make his way to bed, too. As soon as Jongup entered his room, he took off his clothes and slept on top of the covers.


	20. December 20

When Junhong called Jongup earlier that morning, he thought that it was to tell Jongup that he finally made it home and to come visit him because he hasn't seen his best friend in days.

Nope.

It was to beg Jongup to come pick him and Himchan up from the airport. When they were in Italy.

Jongup was so going to get Junhong back for this.

Jongup, lazily, began to get dressed and rubbed the tiredness from his eyes. He stretched his back and pulled a hoodie and a coat over his body because he knows that it's gonna get cold. He grabbed his car keys and made sure that he has everything with him.

"And where are you going in the middle of the night?" a familiar voice asked.

Jongup turned his head and saw Yongguk emerging from his room. (Junhong's room, Jongup reminded himself. Yongguk doesn't pay rent here.)

"Getting Himchan and Junhong from the airport. The two need a ride home," Jongup answered.

"Why can't they get an uber? It's faster and you get to sleep longer," Yongguk questioned.

"An uber also costs money, and I don't think the first thing they want to do when they get back is spend money," Jongup pointed out.

Yongguk only shrugged his shoulders.

"Wanna come with? I need a distraction when I'm at the airport," Jongup asked.

"Nah. I'm only up because I heard noises. I'm gonna go back to bed," Yongguk told him.

Jongup gave him the finger as he began to walk out of the apartment and into the chilly night air. Jongup shivered from the cold and pulled the jacket tighter over his own body. He hated Junhong at this moment.

\-----

Jongup arrived to the airport extremely earlier than he should've. He parked his car where the pickup was and explained to the people working there that he was here to pick up his friends who would arrive within two hours. The workers stared at him as if he was insane. Jongup did feel a bit insane, but he didn't care. He entered inside the airport and sat down on the chairs. The chairs were extremely uncomfortable and it was hard for him to fall asleep.

Either way, he fell asleep.

He was rudely awakened when he felt someone's bag land on his lap. He jumped and looked up to see who woke him up. Himchan and Junhong were standing above him, clearly looking a bit annoyed. Jongup got up, stretched out his back and neck, and hugged his best friend and husband.

"Hey! How was the honeymoon?" Jongup asked them as they made their way towards his car.

"Florence was so beautiful. Especially in the winter. Although it was a bit cold, the atmosphere was so clear and fresh. The artwork, though!" Himchan gushed.

Junhong smiled fondly and listened to every word that Himchan was saying. Jongup mostly ignored him as he opened the trunk of his car and stuffed their bags inside the trunk.

"What about you, Jongup? Did you miss us?" Junhong asked him.

"Oh yeah, totes. Oh, by the way, Yongguk took residency in your room. Apparently his apartment is being demolished or something, so he needed a place to crash until he could find another apartment," Jongup said as he closed the trunk of the car.

"Oh yeah, Yongguk said something about that. Did you two do the do on Junhong's bed?" Himchan asked.

The three entered inside his car and Jongup flushed a brilliant red.

"T-That's none of your business," Jongup stuttered.

"Yeah, they had sex on your bed," Himchan answered.

Junhong groaned and buckled himself in. Jongup started up the car and drove to the new address that Himchan gave him.

"Junhong and I had sex on that bed, too, you know. So really, you're also feeling our sweat juices on those sheets," Himchan pointed out.

Jongup now has the urge to burn his skin.

"I wash those sheets, you know. It's fine. But yeah, it does linger with you. So how was the sex with Yongguk?" Junhong asked him.

Jongup didn't really want to have this conversation at all. First of all, it was embarrassing as hell. Two, he didn't really know where he stood with Yongguk and really, it's making him confused about his own feelings. Three, it's really none of their business about his sex life.

"I don't know, Junhong. How was Florence?" Jongup asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Beautiful. Who knew Junhong is a bit of a romantic. Especially for little old me! He took me on the gondolas, dinner under the stars, he even took me to a play. Although I didn't understand a word they were saying, it was still nice. But don't change the subject on us!" Himchan answered.

Jongup mentally cursed himself. He knows Himchan and he knows that Himchan would notice stuff like this.

"Look, I really don't want to have a conversation about my sex life. Can we not talk about it?" Jongup asked.

The car was suddenly quiet.

"Oh that reminds me, Youngjae said that the rehearsal dinner is on the twenty-third, not the twenty-fourth. He knows that everybody would probably wants to spend Christmas Eve with their family and such, not being stuck at some rehearsal dinner," Junhong reminded.

"Then why have the wedding on Christmas?" Jongup asked.

"No idea, but it's festive and Youngjae loves Christmas. Anyway, that means we need to get our tuxes fitted again on the twenty-first. Thankfully, Jaebum and Jinyoung won't be there so you won't be getting glares all day," Junhong said.

Jongup sighed to himself. He didn't really feel excited. Mostly drained. And he knows that once this is all over, he and Yongguk will become strangers after that. They won't see each other again unless Himchan and Junhong host some party at their house, and even then it'll be extremely awkward and Jongup can't handle that.

After an hour being stuck in traffic and listening to Himchan and Junhong gushing about their new home, he finally turned down the street where their new home was and parked the car. It was a gorgeous house. It was a two story house, with a metal linked fence and a garden that looked like it was just starting. Possibly by the previous owners. Jongup turned off the car and the three got out to view the inside of the house.

Himchan got out his keys and immediately opened the door, grabbing Junhong and leading him inside. Jongup stood outside awkwardly, but entered inside anyway. Whatever gross thing they were gonna do was gonna make him leave anyway. He closed the door behind him and scrapped the snow off from his shoes. He looked around and saw that it was a lot bigger than he thought it was gonna be. There were framed pictures of the development of their relationship, gorgeous furniture that he was afraid to even sit on because they were so pristine and new, and even the rugs made him feel like a peasant. There was a living room, a family room (which didn't have a television, but mostly had bookshelves of books. The living room had a television though), the kitchen was a lot bigger even though these two didn't really know how to cook, and the dining room, even though it was a bit small, it had a decorative table with matching chairs. Jongup didn't even want to know what the rooms looked like.

"Jongup?" Junhong called out.

Jongup turned his head and saw Junhong already shirtless on the living room couch, with Himchan's pants almost halfway off.

"And I'm gone. See ya later," Jongup told him.

Jongup left the two to do whatever rendezvous in their own home and made his way towards his own apartment.

\-----

His apartment was silent. He already figured that Yongguk already went off to work. He looked at his phone and saw a text from Youngjae.

"From: Youngjae

_Hey, do you wanna come over? I need someone to talk to._ "

Jongup shouldn't. He really shouldn't. He was finally getting over Youngjae. He didn't want to make some mistake that would make Youngjae regret agreeing to marry Daehyun.

When he was younger, if he was given this opportunity, he would jump at the chance. But he's older now, and he might've sort of have a crush on someone else that was his fake date, but he needed to finalize that himself.

To: Youngjae

_I'll be there soon._

\-----

Jongup arrived to Youngjae's new house that he now owns with Daehyun. It looked rather homey, and he could see Youngjae and Daehyun raising their own kids in this house. He parked his car and began to contemplate actually going in there. He took a deep breath and got out of the car. He made his way up to Youngjae's door and rang the doorbell. He waited a few minutes until the door finally opened. Youngjae was wearing a robe that covered his pajamas and his hair was sticking up in the back. Youngjae looked warm, but Jongup didn't have the urge to grab his hand.

"Jongup! Come in," Youngjae greeted, letting Jongup enter inside his house.

Jongup entered inside and saw that it was beginning to be furnished as well. There were boxes everywhere and the living room looked a little bare.

"Sorry for the mess. Daehyun and I are in a heated argument about where things should go," Youngjae apologized.

Youngjae offered a seat to Jongup in the family room where the couches were placed and he accepted. He sat down while Youngjae sat opposite of him.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jongup asked him.

It was then that Youngjae broke down. Jongup began to panic. He never saw Youngjae panicing about anything. Usually he had everything together.

"Shit, I wasn't supposed to cry, but nothing is right! The flowers are all wrong, the cake tastes like chocolate even though we were sure we ordered strawberry, and even the venue is looking cheap. We wanted a perfect winter wonderland for our Christmas wedding, but nothing is right! Did you know that Daehyun's parents hate me? I mean, I accidentally set the fake flowers on fire once and they never seem to make me forget it," Youngjae ranted.

Just then, the door opened and in entered Daehyun with groceries. Daehyun set the groceries down and sat beside Youngjae, comforting him softly and whispering soft words to him.

"He's been like this since yesterday. I thought it would be a great idea if he talked to someone he knew," Daehyun explained.

Jongup didn't really know how to go about this situation.

"I mean, what should we do? It's too late to set up another reception," Youngjae argued.

"Why don't you guys just do it in your own backyard? I mean, I know it won't be at the church where you wanted it to be, but I could officiate your wedding or something. Or get Jonghyun to do it. He's a better officiator than I am. And then we could have the wedding reception inside this house. Or outside. You wanted that perfect winter wedding and you're going to get it," Jongup requested.

Youngjae and Daehyun looked out back. The snow was now a soft layer on the ground and the plants had a bit of snow on their petals. It looked like a winter wonderland itself.

"We could do that. Youngjae, your thoughts?" Daehyun asked.

"It'll be a lot cheaper than getting a priest or having it at that cheap place that we thought was so perfect," Youngjae agreed.

The two then began to talk about how everything was going to be set up. From the walk down the aisle, to the perfect set up. Obviously they would be in separate rooms, but they were planning. Jongup was feeling awkward again.

"Yeah, I'm gonna go now," Jongup told him.

"Jongup, wait. Can I talk to you privately before you go?" Youngjae asked.

Jongup saw Daehyun kissing Youngjae's cheek and making his way upstairs. Jongup turned his attention to Youngjae, who looked nervous.

"I know we didn't really end our relationship on better terms, but I still want us to be friends. We were best friends before we started dating. I want us to be that again. I want us to get to know one another again. And it seems like you're happy being with Yongguk now," Youngjae said.

Jongup furrowed his eyebrows. He was happy with Yongguk?

"I know it's very late for apologies and I know you hate me, but I want us to start our friendship over. I want us to continue talking to one another, if that's okay," Youngjae requested.

Jongup sat there in silence, trying to comprehend Youngjae's words.

"You know, when you broke up with me, I was so angry and depressed at the same time. I always wondered what I did wrong. I thought it was my fault. I went through the six stages of grief during those six years. I think... I think I'm finally in acceptance," Jongup recalled.

"I know. What I did to you was unforgivable and I know it won't change anything. But I still want to be your friend as least. Start over," Youngjae said.

Jongup thought about it. It would help him move on. He stared at Youngjae. He took in his ex-boyfriend's features the same way he did when they were younger. Gone was his baby fat and the weird hairstyles that he thought would be 'in' for the longest time, and gone were the clothes that he wore that were two sizes too big. He looked mature and handsome, but Jongup didn't feel anything. He didn't feel the butterflies in his stomach nor did he feel a flutter in his heart. Instead, he felt nostalgic. Nostalgic about the times they spent together and everything that they went through. He'll still keep the memories, but maybe it was time to make new ones.

"Of course, Youngjae. You're my best friend, and I would like to get to know you again," Jongup agreed.

Youngjae smiled widely and hugged Jongup tightly. Jongup let out a squeak and gently rubbed the older's back.

"As much as I would like to stay here, I need to get home. It's getting late," Jongup interrupted.

Youngjae let him go and Jongup got up from the couch. He made his way out the door and into the bitter cold.

When he got home, he kicked off his shoes and made his way towards his bed and went to sleep early.


	21. December 21

Jongup was woken up at fuck you o'clock by having water dumped on his head. He gasped from the cold and glared hard at Himchan, who had the bucket of ice cold water over his shoulder.

"What the hell!" Jongup demanded. He began to shiver violently.

"You need to get up. We're leaving soon. We need to get our tuxes fitted and to make sure everything is adjusted," Himchan told him.

Jongup groaned. He crawled out of bed and walked towards his own bathroom to take a very hot shower.

After he took a shower, he dressed in his lazy clothes and emerged out of his room. Junhong was also wearing his lazy clothes, which consisted of an oversized shirt, a pair of sweats, and socks with sandals. The ultimate fashion ruiner. Jongup was wearing the same thing, except that he was actually wearing shoes.

"God, it's like you two know what one is going to wear," Himchan said, staring at his husband and his husband's best friend.

"We've been friends since forever. It's amazing what years of friendship creates," Junhong explained.

Yongguk emerged out of his room, but he looked well dressed and ready to go. He stared at Junhong and Jongup's clothes.

"I'm not gonna ask. Are we leaving?" Yongguk asked.

Himchan ushered everybody out of Jongup's apartment and everybody made their way towards Himchan's car. Himchan began to drive towards the tuxedo shop where they were last time when they were getting their measurements for their suits. Himchan parked towards the back and got everybody out. Jongup was dreading trying on his suit. It wasn't because he didn't want to attend Youngjae's wedding. It was too much effort and it was way too early.

"Once we're done, we'll get some food. My treat," Himchan offered.

Jongup followed everybody inside the shop. The tailor was placing new tuxedos on the rack when he turned around and greeted everybody.

"Hello! You're here to get fitted, right?" the tailor asked them.

"Yep. Yongguk here, unfortunately, didn't get his measurements, so he might have to buy off the rack," Himchan explained.

The tailor only nodded his head. He first got the three tuxedos with their names on it and gave it to each of them. Jongup's tuxedo was a deep green color, and it looked rather nice. He was ushered inside one of the changing rooms and began to get undressed. He then got dressed and put on the pants suit on first.

"Jongup, I- holy shit, where did those come from?" Himchan asked, emerging into his dressing room.

Jongup yelped in surprise and tried to cover himself up. Himchan stepped into his dressing room and began to probe on Jongup's body.

"I've known you for years and I've never seen you exercise. Where did this six pack come from?" Himchan asked.

"S-Stop that!" Jongup whined.

"Himchan, stop that," he heard Junhong scold.

Himchan turned around and pouted innocently.

"But he has abs! He does nothing," Himchan told him.

"I'm a dance teacher on the side, you know. You would know that if you sometimes wonder why I disappear half the time though out the year. I also used the dance studio to practice my own dance routine. Now get out!" Jongup urged, pushing the two out of the changing room.

He closed the curtains and let out a deep sigh. He put on the tuxedo shirt and stuffed it into his pants. He then put on the emerald green jacket and began to tie his tie. He walked out of the changing room with only his tux and saw Junhong emerging out, too, but dressed in a baby blue tuxedo. The two only nodded at one another, knowing that the other looks rather handsome in their colors.

"What was that about Jongup getting abs?" they heard Yongguk ask.

Jongup turned around and saw Yongguk wearing a blood red suit with a black bow tie that made him look a little spiffy. To Jongup, it made his mouth water. He felt his heart racing and his heart fluttering. He calmed himself down before he began to stutter.

"Himchan crashed into Jongup's changing room and figured out that Jongup has abs. Really, it's not that surprising," Junhong answered.

"Besides, my abs are fading away and a slab of fat is going to replace it sooner or later. Himchan just so happened to have seen it before it disappeared," Jongup explained.

Yongguk said nothing as he began to fix the sleeves of his tux.

"Also, that is an atrocious color. Why did you pick that?" Junhong asked.

"I like the color red, and since the wedding has different colors for each person, I thought red would suit me. And it was the only suit with my measurements on it," Yongguk admitted.

Jongup wanted to hold Yongguk close to his chest and gently pet his hair and tell him he's fine. But then that would look weird so he wasn't going to do that.

Himchan finally emerged, wearing a bright pink suit that pretty much blinded Jongup from the amount of pink the man was wearing.

"Well, it's not as atrocious. I saw Jaebum's suit and its bright yellow. Embarrassing, really, but he'll just have to live with it," Himchan declared.

"Pink is a suitable color for you, babe. You look adorable," Junhong told him, pinching his cheek.

Jongup left the room before the two got gross. Jongup changed back into his lazy clothes and placed his new clothes in the plastic bag that it had and carried it out to the front to pay. He then waited for the others to emerge out of the changing rooms.

Yongguk came out second.

After Yongguk paid for his suit, he sat next to Jongup and fiddled around with his fingers.

"Well, tomorrow is the dinner rehearsal and then after that, the wedding. And then we'll go our separate ways and never see each other again unless Himchan and Junhong have some event going on. And then you'll find someone special throughout the year and-"

"I want you to stay," Jongup blurted out.

Yongguk stopped and stared at Jongup. Jongup felt his face flush. Before Yongguk could ask what Jongup meant, Himchan and Junhong came out, buying their tuxes and ushering Jongup and Yongguk out of the store. The car ride was a bit awkward and Jongup didn't know what to do.

\-----

Luckily for Jongup, when the two got home, Yongguk immediately left the apartment in order to find his own apartment to rent. Or a house. Whatever Yongguk was comfortable with. Jongup stared at the table in front of him, wondering how, exactly, to word this. He needs a drink. Alcohol. He needs to be drunk.

He drank himself stupid and passed out of his own bed, hoping that he won't have to see or talk to Yongguk about what happened at the tuxedo shop.

\-----

When Jongup woke up around eleven, he stared at the ceiling with a pounding headache.

"I'm in love with Bang Yongguk," Jongup muttered to himself.

The pain in his chest was a bit numb now. The butterflies in his stomach were now growing into bat wings.

"I'm in love with Bang Yongguk and it hurts," Jongup mumbled.

He rolled over on his bed and fell back to sleep.


	22. December 22

The whole day felt slow, yet a giant blur. Jongup remembered getting up and taking a shower, eating breakfast, and even going to work. Everything was hazy and he felt like he was on autopilot. He still remembered what he said to Yongguk, and what he confessed himself last night right before he rolled over and fell asleep. He was scared of Yongguk's reaction and didn't want to deal with it right now.

When Jongup came home to his apartment, he saw Yongguk sitting down on the couch, drinking a glass of water and next to it, a bottle of wine.

The universe loves to prove him wrong.

"Jongup, we need to talk," Yongguk told him, staring at his glass of iced water.

Jongup walked over towards the other couch and sat down, staring at Yongguk. He already knew where this was going, but he was scared of the response.

"Yesterday, before we were interrupted, you said some words to me that were... curious," he said.

"And I meant it. I want you to stay, Yongguk. I like you. More than I thought I do. I don't know if this is love because it's too soon for that. But I do feel a strong attraction towards you. Towards your smile, your laugh, and the passion you have towards music and art. I want you to-"

"Jongup, we both know that it won't happen," Yongguk tells him.

Jongup shut his mouth and stared at his hand.

"Jongup, I want us to be friends. And nothing more. I can't have feelings for people. It's not in my nature. This is my second job and it helps pay the bills. As soon as this deal is over, then we can't be more than that and you know it," Yongguk explained.

"I know, but if you just-"

"Jongup, you're making this a lot harder than it needs to be. I can't love you. You're a stranger to me. Everything we're doing is fake," Yongguk interrupted.

"So the sex is fake, too? Is that it? I know that sometimes you cuddle up to me after sex and that you wake up early to make sure that we untangle from under the sheets. I know that at one point, you looked into my eyes and saw _me_ , not some nameless fuck that you'd find on the street. What's wrong with wanting more?" Jongup demanded.

"Because it's selfish and you know it is. I can't fall in love with you nor can I produce some attraction to you. What you feel for me is fake. Everything you're feeling for me is fake, and I'm sorry, but it's the truth. I can't sugarcoat it more than it needs to be. You need to realize that once this is over, we're back to being nameless strangers. We won't see each other again and that's it," Yongguk shouted.

Jongup felt his heart jumping from his chest. He shrunk against the couch and stared at Yongguk in fear. Yongguk took a deep breath and calmed down.

"Maybe I should find a new apartment right now. Just go for the one with the cheapest rent. I can't be here if it means you're developing feelings for me," Yongguk told him.

And with that, Yongguk walked out of the door and into the freezing cold. Jongup sat on the couch and finally broke down crying.

\-----

Junhong came into the apartment as soon as Jongup called. Jongup finally stopped crying, but knew that he would cry later on. Junhong saw the used tissue paper all around the coffee table and sat next to his best friend.

"Hey, are you okay?" Junhong asked him.

Jongup shook his head no. He felt like his heart was squeezing against his chest and he can't do anything about it. It hurt.

"What happened? You didn't really say anything," Junhong asked him.

"Yongguk and I had a fight," Jongup admitted.

Junhong furrowed his eyebrows.

"...Okay? What was the fight about?" Junhong asked.

"I confessed my feelings. I like Yongguk. A lot more than us fake dating. He didn't take too kindly to that," Jongup explained.

"Wait, what? Wait, you have a crush on him? Since when?" Junhong asked.

Jongup thought about. When did seeing Yongguk smiling feel more like the sun shining down on him? When did the butterflies arrived in his stomach? When did he finally get over Youngjae in order to establish new feelings for Yongguk?

"I... I don't know. I think... I think I always did. I don't remember how or why, but I do. I want him to stay with me, but he said that we're just nameless strangers," Jongup answered.

"So, when I suggested having sex... Oh Jongup, I'm so sorry. I should've known," Junhong told him, wrapping his arm around his best friend.

"You didn't know. No one did. It took even me by surprise. I think Yongguk and I should keep our distance right now. At least until the wedding and the dinner rehearsal is over," Jongup told him.

"Do you want me to stay over? I'm sure Himchan won't mind," Junhong suggested.

"No, I can't ask you to do that. Don't worry about me. Go home and enjoy the rest of your day, okay? I'll be fine for now," Jongup told him.

Junhong only sighed as he got up. He kissed his best friend on the forehead and made his way out of the apartment. Jongup was now alone. He felt so very alone. He curled up against the couch and decided to sleep there.

He was going to regret it, but he didn't want to move. His heart felt too heavy.


	23. December 23

Jongup rolled over and landed hard on the couch. He groaned in pain and rubbed his back as best as he could. He stood up and walked towards Yongguk's room, which was empty again. Just like how Junhong left it.

He stopped himself and realized that he named the room as Yongguk's, not Junhong's as he had down before.

Yongguk finally left and Jongup could feel his heart clenching against his chest again. He heard someone knocking on his door and groaned. He walked towards the door and opened it, seeing Himchan and Junhong dressed in their more nicer clothes. He groaned and realized what this was for.

"It's the dinner rehearsal, isn't it?" Jongup asked.

"Yep. It's almost one, too. You slept almost all morning. Now come on, sleeping beauty! You need to get ready," Junhong told him, ushering Jongup into the bathroom.

Jongup shoved Junhong away from him and went to the bathroom to do his morning ritual: pee, and then brush his teeth. Sometimes he'll brush his hair if he needs to go out into the real world. Jongup was not going to enjoy this at all.

After doing whatever he needed to do in the bathroom, he emerged out of the bathroom and went into his room to change into his nicer clothes.

"And don't dress like a librarian, you got it! We're going to a rehearsal dinner, not a PTA meeting," Junhong called out.

Jongup ignored them and brought out a white shirt, a pair of dress pants, and a black jacket. He placed them all on the bed and changed out of his pajamas and into the clothes he picked out. He got dressed and left his bedroom. He came out and showed his outfit to the two biggest fashion nerds around.

"Is this exceptional?" Jongup asked.

He heard two people clapping, which meant that Jongup got an approval from both Himchan and Junhong.

"Now, come on! I want to see Yongguk's face when he sees your outfit. I bet he'll want to jump you after," Himchan told him.

It hit Jongup like a bucket of iced water. He remembered the harsh words that Yongguk said, and what he did right after. Jongup felt his heart ripping in two.

"Himchan, we talked about this," Junhong warned.

Himchan made a face that looked like he really fucked up.

"Shit. Forget I said anything. Now come on! Free food awaits!" Himchan declared.

And off the two went.

\-----

The dinner rehearsal was exactly how he imagined it. It was going to have Youngjae and Daehyun's family in a well-lit restaurant with their few friends that they invited. Both parents were awkwardly getting to know one another, even though it was evident that they really don't want to. Daehyun and Youngjae were sitting by each other, talking about whatever it was engaged couples were talking about. Jongup sat next to Yongguk, looked visibly uncomfortable. Himchan and Junhong were off somewhere looking at decor, obviously trying to get as far away from the dinner table as possible.

"Hey, Yongguk-"

"Please don't," Yongguk pleaded.

It's been a full twenty-four hours since Jongup confronted Yongguk and he confessed his feelings to him. He could still feel his heart breaking, but he wasn't going to cry in a very nice restaurant. He was going to cry in his pillows once he gets home. Like everybody else, apparently. Yongguk, however, looked like he was ready to burst if he had to continue sitting here. Jongup looked around and saw everybody beginning to take their seats as different varieties of food came out form the kitchen and placed at the center where the Lazy Susan was.

"Before we start to eat, we would like to make a toast. First, thank you to all the families that were able to make it. Second, thank you to all of our friends who were able to be here and make this day just as special. Youngjae and I can't wait to start our new life together. And to the new memories we'll be able to share," Daehyun announced.

Everybody toasted and took small sips from their wines. Jongup looked over at Yongguk and saw that he looked like he wanted something stronger than wine. Jongup doesn't really blame him.

Soon, others began to get up from their seat and began to converse with whoever wanted to talk with them. Jongup saw Youngjae approaching them. Something that he didn't want.

"Hey, you two!" Youngjae greeted. "Why aren't you two conversing with everyone else?"

"Well, we just want to mellow out, you know. Before your big day, Jongup said.

He took a sip of his wine then. He needed something to distract him and not having to talk.

"So when are you two going to get married?" Youngjae asked.

Jongup inhaled his wine from the surprise question. He then began coughing violently in order to get some air into his lungs.

"It's too early to think about that. Besides, we might not even get married," Yongguk answered.

Youngjae looked confused. When Jongup finally got some air through his lungs, Youngjae turned his attention to Jongup.

"But you're the marriage type, though. You've been waiting to get married to someone since you were a kid. What changed?" Youngjae asked him.

"We grow up, Youngjae. I realized that maybe I don't want to get married yet. At least, until the right person comes along," Jongup answered, taking a sip of water.

"Is Yongguk not the right person then?" he asked.

"That's not what I meant. If Yongguk proposed, maybe, but like he said, it's too early to tell," Jongup said.

"Daehyun and I were dating for eight months before he decided to propose to me. I'll admit, we had a really long engagement, but he knew he wanted to marry me right at that moment," Youngjae confessed.

"Youngjae, that's not-"

"And you almost proposed to me at my high school graduation," Youngjae pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's different."

"How is this different?" Youngjae asked.

"Because we're not dating!" Yongguk snapped.

Jongup could swear that the music stopped.

"Yongguk, not right now!" Jongup hissed.

"When are you going to tell the truth then? Huh? When you send out the wedding invites that has a different man's name? Just admit that you didn't want to be the only person there without a date! I'm done," Yongguk snapped.

He got up from his chair, which fell with a hard sound banging on the floor. Jongup could feel all eyes on him instantly. He quickly got up from his seat and rushed out of the restaurant. He could feel tears prickling at the corner of his eyes already. When he walked outside, he could feel the frigid air hitting his cheeks. He began to walk back to his apartment. He remembered vaguely about where the route is and he accidentally left his jacket back at the restaurant. Which had his phone.

For now, he wants to crawl into bed and sleep for the next fifty years and hopes people will forget about that incident.

\-----

Jongup is lost.

He's oh so very lost in a strange town that he has no idea what the name is. After trying to find a pay phone or ask anybody who had a phone, he got hold of Junhong and begged him to come pick him up in some town that he has no idea where it is. After giving him some street names that he could find, Junhong indicated that he sees him. Jongup immediately got into the car and leaned his head against the window.

"Jongup, I'm so-"

"Can we please not talk about it?" Jongup requested.

Junhong sighed and agreed. He began to drive out of the town and went to where Jongup's apartment is. Jongup could feel his heart squeezing against his chest.

Love hurts.


	24. December 24

When Yongguk asked Himchan to come over to Himchan's old apartment so that they could talk about what happened. he didn't really expect a lecture as soon as Himchan entered inside.

"You broke his heart, you fucking dick. You're my best friend, I know that, but sometimes best friends need to punch each other in the face from time to time," Himchan declared.

Yongguk didn't need to be reminded. He spent the whole day yesterday and the day before to contemplate the words that Jongup told him. He didn't know what he felt for the younger.

"I know I fucked up, but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't exactly tell him that there will be no chance for us in the future. Especially when I don't even know whether or not I like him. Besides, I don't even know if his feelings for me are real or not, and I don't want to be disappointed again when I find out the results," Yongguk admitted.

The sound of Himchan being in the kitchen came to a halt. Yongguk looked over his shoulder to figure out why Himchan stopped, until he realized what he said.

"Wait, you might actually like Jongup?" Himchan asked.

"I mean, maybe? I wasn't given enough time to figure it out," Yongguk confessed.

"But he's not your type. You like guys with slender build because you said they're easier to lift when you have-"

"I know that, but maybe... maybe I am developing feelings for Jongup," he interrupted.

Yongguk had to think about it. He loved Jongup's smile, his cute mole that he had at the bridge of his nose, and this annoyed expression that he makes whenever something doesn't go his way. He loves Jongup's laughter the best. To Yongguk, it sounded like the heavens were opening up and singing in his ear. There were times when he would hear Jongup humming whenever the younger was cooking something.

"Fuck. I fucked up huge, didn't I?" Yongguk asked.

"And the light goes on," Himchan muttered.

Yongguk threw a pillow at Himchan's head, which Himchan ducked with ease and continued to make lunch for Yongguk.

"What do I do? I can't exactly apologize to Jongup and tell him that I love him, can I?" Yongguk asked.

"I mean, you did embarrass him in front of his ex-boyfriend and his fiancé, their parents, and their friends. You should've seen the look Jongup had when you left. He looked completely heartbroken and looked ready to throw himself at a nearby bus. Junhong was looking for him all night before the fucker finally called his cell phone and begged him to pick him up. Which reminds me, I need to get Junhong to give Jongup his coat back," Himchan said.

"Then what do I do? I want to make this right. Maybe actually date Jongup like couples do," Yongguk begged.

"Well, you know how you embarrassed yourself in front of everybody?" Himchan asked.

Yongguk didn't need to be reminded three times, but nodded his head anyway.

"I think you need to embarrass yourself in a way that makes everything even," Himchan declared.

Yongguk stared at him, then furrowed his eyebrows. Embarrass himself?

"How, exactly?" Yongguk asked.

"Have you ever seen Ten Things I Hate About You?" Himchan asked.

\-----

Jongup refused to get out of bed. He called in to work saying that he was sick. His manager said that it was fine, since it was going to be a short day since tomorrow is Christmas and everything. He stared at the wedding invitation. Junhong left it on his dresser in order to remind him that they are, in fact, going.

He thought about faking an illness so that he wouldn't attend.

He rolled over and stared at his other dresser. Junhong was able to get his coat and cell phone back, which he's thankful for. He got a few texts from Youngjae and Daehyun. Some were wondering how he was doing, Youngjae demanding what he was thinking when he decided to hire someone to be his fake date. To be honest, Jongup didn't know why, either.

"Jongup?" Junhong called softly, opening his bedroom door.

Jongup let out a grunt to indicate that he was still alive.

"Jonguppie, I brought some food from the restaurant downstairs," Junhong said.

"'m not hungry," Jongup muttered.

He heard Junhong sighed and sit down on the bed next to him.

"I know it hurts. Believe me, I've been there, too. It'll hurt at first, and then the next day you'll want to get up again to show him that you're fine without him," Junhong said.

"Did this person embarrass you in front of your ex-boyfriend and his fiancé, plus everybody else there?" Jongup asked numbly.

He felt Junhong playing around with his hair.

"No, but something similar. We were in high school. I had this huge promposal thing and I wanted to ask him to prom. Before I could even ask, he was already asked by someone else," Junhong admitted.

Jongup remembered.

"I remember. The guy was a dick. We decided to be our own dates, too," Jongup reminisced.

"Yeah. Before Youngjae asked you out and dated you," Junhong said.

"Did you ever think what would've happened if we kissed at prom? What our lives would be like? Kids at school thought we were dating anyway," Jongup asked.

"Once. And then I realized I like this life better. Being your boyfriend would be too weird," Junhong admitted.

Jongup let out a croak of a laugh. Junhong smiled softly at that.

"I don't think I can go. People would feel sorry for me, and then demand why I hired some escort to be my date. I can already hear the rumors," Jongup begged.

"I know, but we have to. Himchan spent a lot of money on your tux and you know how he'll be like if you don't show up," Junhong told him.

Jongup groaned. He felt Junhong getting off the bed and leaving his room. Jongup sighed and wrapped himself even tighter in the blankets. He just needs to sleep and forget anything ever happened.

When he wakes up will be the day he'll start facing reality.

\-----

This was a bad idea. Yongguk didn't know how Himchan talked him into this, but he's here anyway. Himchan was with him at the restaurant that Yongguk picked, with Youngjae and Daehyun across from him.

"So let me get this straight; you want to embarrass yourself in front of hundreds of people so that Jongup may or may not forgive you?" Youngjae asked.

"That's exactly what we're saying. Gukkie here is going to sing up on that stage and embarrass himself. You guys don't even need to pay him. Just tell him when and he'll do it," Himchan said.

Yongguk wanted to smack Himchan.

"If you do like Jongup, why did you embarrass him in the first place? Why did you reject him in front of us?" Daehyun asked.

"I was still trying to sort out my feelings. I didn't like living this lie that we were forced to play for the past three weeks. I thought it was because I was feeling guilty that I was lying to everybody. It turned out I didn't like it because I wanted it to be real," Yongguk confessed.

Youngjae and Daehyun looked at one another, then back at Yongguk.

"Look, Yongguk, you seem like a swell guy. In fact, I thought you and Jongup were going to go somewhere with your relationship. Now that I know the truth, I have something to say. You break his heart again, I won't hesitate to cut off your fingers one by one, do you understand?" Youngjae threatened.

Yongguk hid his hands underneath the table.

"I understand. And believe me, I don't want to hurt Jongup at all. What I did was unforgivable and I won't be surprised if Jongup didn't accept me back, but I need to try at least. I mean, wouldn't you?" Yongguk asked.

Youngjae and Daehyun laced fingers with one another and looked at one another with so much love that it hurt.

"We always do. When one of us fucks up, we try to make up for it the best we can. If you're serious about this, then we'll allow it. But it has to be on our terms and we get to decide when you should do it," Daehyun tells him.

Yongguk only nodded his head. He looked over at Himchan, who looked a bit amused.

"Alright, deal. I'll see you guys at the reception," Yongguk said.

Yongguk left, with Himchan trailing right behind him. He needed to go home and see if his costume still fit him after all these years.


	25. December 25

Jongup woke up to the sun shining through the window. He groaned and attempted to get up from bed. He mostly rolled over and fell hard on the floor. He groaned and got up from the floor. He first took a shower, which he mostly stayed in the hot water until the water finally turned cold. He got out, brushed his teeth, and made his way back to his room to put on the emerald green suit that Himchan bought for him. The suit still fit him perfectly and looked at himself in the mirror. Jongup looked good.

He took a deep breath and made his way towards the living room. He didn't feel like watching television and he was afraid of barfing whatever food he was going to eat. He was afraid of the stares that he would get when people start to whisper and point at him. He groaned and decided to eat one of those prepackaged freezable foods that Junhong bought one time, but completely forgot about. He cooked up and began to eat, forcing the food down his throat. He heard someone knocking on his door. He began to hope a little, until he opened the door.

"Oh, it's you," Jongup muttered.

Junhong appeared in front of him, wearing the baby blue suit that Himchan bought for him.

"Did you eat anything? We need to get to the house earlier, since we're part of Youngjae's groomsmen," Junhong told him.

"Sounds like a rock band. I ate something already. Why do I have to go again?" Jongup asked.

"Because you're Youngjae's best friend, and even though you two haven't talked to each other in years, he still wants you there. Plus, we need to pick up Jonghyun. He's been texting me nonstop asking about what kind of clothes he should wear and whether or not he should stuff down there. I told him that I really don't care what's in his pants as long as he can give a powerful sermon as a fake priest," Junhong told him.

Jongup forgot about his brother. He remembered, vaguely, about inviting Jonghyun to officiate his ex-boyfriend's wedding. Jonghyun jumped at the chance and promised that he'll be there, so long as Jongup actually came and picked him up.

"Well come on! We need to leave now. Himchan is downstairs and he has the car running," Junhong told him.

Jongup grabbed whatever he thought was necessary. His cell phone, his coat because he knows it's gonna be cold outside, his watch, and his sunglasses because Youngjae requested it.

"I think I got everything," Jongup told him.

"Good. Now let's go! We need to get there early," Junhong said.

Jongup followed him outside and into Himchan's car. And off they went towards Jonghyun's house.

\-----

After picking up Jonghyun and getting some donuts for everybody, the four made it to the chapel as early as they could. There were still people milling around outside, waiting to enter inside. Jongup realized that maybe Youngjae and Daehyun aren't letting them inside just yet because the wedding was going to be inside their house, and not in the backyard. Even though they bought heaters for the outside for this event.

"Are they having the wedding inside or outside?" Jongup asked as he let everybody into the house to warm up.

"Youngjae said outside. The heaters are already set up and the chairs and the arch are already set in place," Junhong answered.

"So where should I set up?" Jonghyun asked them.

"You're going to be outside, but I suggest getting ready out here. Talk to people so that they get a feel for you," Jongup suggested.

Jonghyun only nodded his head. Jongup walked up the stairs, with Junhong and Himchan trailing close behind him. He saw the few doors on the second floor and saw the signs. One sign on the left said 'Youngjae', while the one on the right said 'Daehyun'.

"Himchan, can you make sure Daehyun isn't freaking out? We'll check on Youngjae," Junhong requested.

"Why should I check on Daehyun?" Himchan asked, a little annoyed.

"Because he's been blowing up my phone for the past half hour. I'm asking as a favor. Please?" Junhong asked again, giving his husband his puppy dog eyes.

"Ugh, fine. But you so owe me," Himchan told him.

Himchan entered Daehyun's room, and Jongup could swear he was hearing some wailing and blabbering. Jongup and Junhong entered inside Youngjae's room and saw Youngjae pacing around the room, with Jaebum and Jinyoung already inside with him.

"Jongup!" Youngjae called out.

Jongup raised an eyebrow. Then he remembered what happened yesterday and now all he wants to do is hide in the bathroom until all of this is over.

"Jongup. How are you feeling?" Jaebum asked.

This was the first time Jaebum was actually a bit concerned about him, and Jongup didn't know how to feel about this.

"I'm fine. Sort of. We should actually focus more on Youngjae and less on me. How's he feeling?" Jongup asked him.

"I'm fine. Just a bit nerve wracking is all. I mean, I finally get to call Daehyun my husband. Not fiancé or boyfriend, but husband! I'm feeling giddy about it. Daehyun is probably freaking out because I'm across the hall, but I told him that if he doesn't calm down, I will smack him," Youngjae said.

Jongup looked around the room. It looked like it was Youngjae and Daehyun's bedroom. There were pictures on the wall that had them, and an empty picture frame on their bedside table. Jongup realized that this would probably be for their first dance. The room looked extremely bright and gorgeous.

"Hey, have all the guests arrived?" Youngjae asked.

"We got two of Jinyoung's friends taking care of guest list. They're making sure that everybody is on the list and if they're not, they're not allowed inside. We've had problems before, since we're a gay couple. We don't want that happening to you," Jaebum told him.

"Oh thank god! Okay, now I just need to focus on this wedding," Youngjae said.

"Do you have the traditional 'something old, something new' items?" Junhong asked.

Youngjae looked like he was about to pass out.

"Wait, that's a thing? I thought it was only for girls," Youngjae demanded.

"Well, Daehyun is doing one, so it's only fair if you did one. Don't worry, Jongup and I gathered some stuff together," Junhong said.

"So, this is something old. This old friendship bracelet we made together when we were in high school because the arts and crafts lady threatened us," Jongup said, holding out a multicolored bracelet that looked worn out. Youngjae put the bracelet on his wrist and Jongup tied it loosely, like when they were students in high school.

"This is something new. Himchan and I were trying to find something that you may like and decided on this new tie with rubber ducks on it," Junhong said.

Youngjae made a face at the rubber ducks, but said nothing as Junhong began to tie the tie around his neck.

"This is something borrowed. This was Himchan's, so he's letting you borrow it for the wedding. He wants them back after, though," Junhong told him.

Jongup and Junhong helped Youngjae put the cufflinks on this sleeves and secured it nicely.

"And this is our something blue. We couldn't really find a lot that you may have lived with the color blue on it, so we decided on some earrings," Jongup told him.

Youngjae took the blue space earrings and placed them on his ear. He looked in the mirror and began to look over at his outfit. Jongup stared at his phone, hoping that Yongguk would text him back at least once. He's been texting Yongguk since yesterday, apologizing and begging for him to come back.

Yongguk hasn't replied and he could feel his heart hurting.

Jongup was startled when he heard someone doing something downstairs.

"That must be my uncle. He probably got drunk and is ruining my stuff downstairs," Youngjae muttered, looking annoyed.

"Yeah, I think Mark and Jackson will handle that. If anything, they'll send Yugyeom because he's the same height as Junhong, but he looks like a quarterback in American football," Jaebum tells him.

Jongup continued to get Youngjae ready, wearing a bright yellow suit that Jongup has no idea why he chose the color, but he wasn't going to judge. Whatever worked for him.

"Hey, you look down," Junhong tells him.

Jongup looked down at his phone and saw that he doesn't have a single text from Yongguk. Something he was sort of waiting for.

"I know, but we need to pull ourselves together. For Youngjae's sake, at least," Junhong tells him.

Jongup gave him a small pout, but agreed anyway. He knows that he can't act like a child right now, so he's gonna suck it up and take a deep breath. He heard someone knocking at the door, with Himchan peaking inside.

"Hey, we're ready to start. I already got Daehyun and the guests outside, so let's get this show on the road," Himchan announced.

Jongup got up from the floor and followed Himchan down the stairs.

They got a wedding to attend to.

\-----

The wedding was actually gorgeous, in Jongup's opinion. The snow was a perfect effect, especially towards the end. Jongup clapped along with everyone else as Youngjae and Daehyun gave each other soft kisses. It wasn't as extravagant as Junhong and Himchan's kiss when they got married, but it was short and sweet. It was when the snow was starting to fall that it got interesting. He hoped that the camera man got a shot of that.

After the wedding, everybody quickly headed inside because it was starting to turn cold. Jongup looked outside and saw Youngjae and Daehyun still outside, laughing and bickering. If Jongup was still with Youngjae, he would've hauled ass and brought Youngjae with him.

"Come on, you idiots! It's freezing outside," Himchan called out.

Daehyun and Youngjae finally came inside, with snow littering on Daehyun and Youngjae's suits. They quickly brushed each other off and made their way towards the center. Everybody was cheering and clapping as the two stood in the middle of the room.

"Thank you all for showing up. To those who couldn't make it, we're sorry but it was one hell of a wedding. Now, we brought our good friend, Junhee, to play as a DJ for our wedding and will be announcing what dance we will be doing," Daehyun announced.

Jongup could swear that he saw a twinkle in Youngjae's eye, but he thought it was a trick of the light or something.

"Alright, ladies and gentlemen! It's going to be the couple's first dance, followed by mother-son dance. For the couple's first dance, they chose a song that means a lot to them. A song that made them realize that they both loved each other. From the states, here is Selena with Dreaming of You," DJ Junhee announced.

The song started off slow. Jongup watched as the two began to dance. Junhong appeared next to him, frightening Jongup just a bit.

"Daehyun was telling me earlier about how he proposed. Apparently they were in the states when this song came on. Youngjae shut Daehyun up so that he could listen and appreciate the song. He loved it so much and Daehyun saw the love in his eyes. That was when he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Youngjae. Even if he rejected him the first time, he'll know that the timing wasn't right, and will wait for him," Junhong explained.

"Youngjae said he said yes to his proposal," Jongup commented.

"Daehyun was ecstatic," Junhong replied.

Jongup continued watching Youngjae and Daehyun dancing to the song. Jongup could see the care and love the two had for one another, but he could see Daehyun cracking a smile once or twice because Youngjae must've said something funny. Daehyun then would make a face because Youngjae said some stupid pun, and Jongup was now glad that they broke up when they did. Jongup was obsessed with Youngjae. He didn't appreciate everything that was Youngjae. He was just so happy about the idea of being in a relationship with Youngjae that he didn't realize that it was lust, not love.

Jongup still loved Youngjae, but now that love has turned nostalgic. It turned into a memory, and he hoped to gain new memories with someone else.

Someone with a gummy smile and a lanky body, but he realized that Yongguk hasn't replied to his texts.

The song finally ended, to which Jongup clapped along with everybody else. The room was a bit small, but somehow it fit everybody. There was a buffet table that Youngjae and Daehyun set up so that if anybody was hungry, they would eat whenever they wanted.

"Alright everybody, first it's Daehyun and his mom out on the dance floor! And before Daehyun complains about being first, it's age before beauty, my young friend," DJ Junhee told him.

Jongup laughed as Daehyun was about to argue with Junhee, making Youngjae laugh loudly. Daehyun's mother pulled him to the dance floor and the two danced to some song that Jongup didn't recognize. It was a slow song and it sounded rather lovely. Jongup headed towards the buffet table and getting whatever he could get. It had seafood, some American food, and traditional Korean food. Delicious.

As Jongup ate his lunch, he saw Daehyun and his mother ending the dance on a final note. Youngjae and his mother stepped out onto the dance floor and a slow song came on. The singer was different and the words held a different meaning for the two. Jongup remembered Youngjae's mom. His mom did not like Jongup at all. He vaguely remembered Youngjae's mother commenting that he didn't like him corrupting his precious baby boy. Jongup almost snorted at that, before he realized that no mother wanted to hear him comment on what his son actually does.

Jongup finished his lunch as Youngjae and his mother ended the song. Jongup popped a piece of mint gum into his mouth as he clapped along with everybody else.

"Now, we got a rather special request tonight. For a special guest in the audience, here is what nobody has been waiting for," DJ Junhee announced.

A familiar bell rang out, followed by Mariah Carey's vocals singing All I Want for Christmas Is You, but Jongup almost swallowed his gum. In a bright red robe and Santa hat was Yongguk, stepping slowly into the audience. He was lip syncing to the song and Jongup couldn't really believe it.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas. / There is just one thing I need. / I don't care about the presents / Underneath the Christmas tree. / I just want you for my own / More than you could ever know. / Make my wish come true / All I want for Christmas is you, yeah."

Yongguk ripped off the robe to reveal a short dress that Jongup was pretty sure was supposed to be Mrs. Claus's dress, with white gloves and black boots. Jongup never knew he could be this turned on by seeing Yongguk in that outfit, yet here he is.

"I don't want a lot for Christmas. / There is just one thing I need. / And I don't care about the presents / Underneath the Christmas tree. / I don't need to hang my stocking / There upon the fireplace. / Santa Claus won't make me happy / With a toy on Christmas Day. / I just want you for my own / More than you could ever know. / Make my wish come true. / All I want for Christmas is you. / You, baby. / Oh, I won't ask for much this Christmas. / I won't even wish for snow. / And I'm just gonna keep on waiting / Underneath the mistletoe. / I won't make a list and send it / To the North Pole for Saint Nick. / I won't even stay awake to / Hear those magic reindeer click. / 'Cause I just want you here tonight / Holding on to me so tight. / What more can I do? / Baby, all I want for Christmas is you. / You, baby."

Jongup knows that Yongguk could see him in the crowd, because whenever Mariah would say 'you', Yongguk would instantly point at him to indicate that he sees him, and that he wants him to know that he loves him, too. Jongup walked through the crowd and stood in front of Yongguk, who was pulling him closer. Jongup couldn't help but laugh and pulled Yongguk dangerously close to his body.

"Santa won't you bring me the one I really need. Won't you please bring my baby to me!" Yongguk sang out.

As the song was nearing to the end, a mistletoe appeared out of nowhere (or, at least, on a stick with some string carried by one named Junhong) and Jongup kissed Yongguk with such passion and love that he could give. The song was still going, but Yongguk placed his hands on Jongup's body like he never wanted to let him go.

And Jongup won't let him.

\-----

Yongguk changed out of his costume and into his dark red suit. He sat next to Jongup and held his hand in his own. Jongup looked up at Yongguk and waited for what he was about to say.

"I'm sorry. For what I said," Yongguk apologized.

"So the way you wanted to apologize to me was dress up as sexy Mrs. Claus and dance around while singing Mariah Carey's hit Christmas song?" Jongup asked him.

Yongguk felt a bit embarrassed by that. Jongup could see the red tint of a blush forming on his cheeks and ears.

"It was Himchan's suggestion. He thought the only way to get me to apologize to you was to embarrass myself. And hey, it worked. It got a laugh and I'm pretty sure it'll go viral on Youtube or something," Yongguk confessed.

"Where did you get the costume?" Jongup asked.

"I did some stupid stuff when I was in college. One of them was being a Mrs. Claus Candy Cane Delivery. Mostly guys volunteered and I thought it would be a great cause to sign up for. I didn't realize that I had to wear a skimpy outfit with it. I kept the costume and never gave it back. I was hoping that it wouldn't fit, but I was oh so wrong," Yongguk admitted.

Jongup played around with the costume a bit. It felt worn, but the costume was still intact. The white fur felt synthetic, as did the rest of the costume. And yet...

"Think you can wear this to bed when we have our roleplays?" Jongup asked seriously.

Yongguk stared at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Mrs. Claus? Really?" Yongguk asked.

"Hey, I can be Santa if you want," Jongup tells him.

Yongguk only laughed and looked up at the people dancing along to some upbeat song that the two didn't really want to dance with.

"I'm gonna have to take you up on that. I'm surprised you were a bit turned on by that. Most people I've dated get freaked out when they see the costume," Yongguk tells him.

"Hey, I'm a bit of a freak myself, you know. One time I did this puppy play with a girl I was dating for three weeks-"

"Okay, and sharing time is over," Yongguk tells him.

Jongup only laughed. He looked up and saw that the song was slowing down and the couples were now doing a slow dance.

"Wanna dance?" Jongup asked.

Yongguk stood up and offered his hand to him. Jongup accepted and began to walk towards the dance floor. Yongguk placed his hand on Jongup's hips while Jongup wrapped his arm around Yongguk's neck.

"Has anyone ever measured your neck before?" Jongup asked.

"Sh. Don't ruin the moment," Yongguk tells him.

The two dance together, with the soft music playing in the background.

Best Christmas yet, in Jongup's opinion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, everybody! hope you all have enjoyed the story just as much as I like writing it. it was actually a lot of fun and i hope you all enjoy this holiday. and a happy new year!  
> also, my favorite [christmas](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InYvRyX2Fu4) video that inspired this scene.


End file.
